


The Invention of Home

by thorsdottir



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Avengers Family, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Black Character(s), Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Interracial Relationship, Ironheart, M/M, My version of Ironheart, Original Character(s), Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Romance, Science Bros, Slow Burn, Smut, Wakanda, not really Ironheart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-04-29 12:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 55,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorsdottir/pseuds/thorsdottir
Summary: When Lena Owens discovers that Tony Stark is her biological father, it seemed to good to be true.Five years later, she thought she'd lost him to the Mad Titan.Now that the Infinity War is over, the Avengers are closer than they've ever been. They've even got a few new additions. One, in particular, has caught Lena's eye. He's dangerous and mysterious, and all she knows about him is that he's Steve Rogers' best friend, and he killed her grandparents.





	1. The Girl in the Iron Mask

**Author's Note:**

> There was an idea. To write a story about a black, female, tech genius superhero.  
> So, I came up with an original character. Lena Owens Stark. I borrowed the name Ironheart, because I like it, and I didn't want to write a Riri fic.  
> Lena =/= Riri Williams. I imagine Riri exists in this world, but she is not yet Ironheart. Maybe she's a little kid. 
> 
> This is mostly set after the events of Avengers 4 (2019). Of course, we don't know what those are, yet, but this is the... happy version, where just about everyone is revived. This is the aftermath of Thanos and the battle for the Infinity Gauntlet. 
> 
> I rated this M, because I reserve the right to use strong language, violence, and sex.
> 
> Casting for characters not presently cast in the MCU or invented by me will be listed here!   
> (Feel free to use these faces to help you imagine these characters. Or use your own imagination, or insert yourself! Enjoy however you like!)  
> Lena Owens Stark - Zazie Beetz  
> Namor McKenzie (Sub Mariner) - Manny Jacinto

2013

“Mr. Stark?” Tony couldn’t quite believe his eyes. It was a person in an Iron Man-like suit, much like the many iterations he’d designed and built over the past 5 years. The person, in the suit very much like his own, landed at the balcony of Avengers Tower, the repulsors turning off as the metal of the suit clinked against the floor of the balcony. The voice was feminine, and the suit, which mimicked his, seemed to function much the same way an Iron Man suit would. Jarvis had alerted Tony to the presence of the unidentified object that was headed towards Avengers Tower, so Tony suited up and was ready for whatever battle he was about to face. But the voice caught him off guard. Okay, Tony knew that women could be just as formidable as men, and this person being female did not automatically mean she wasn’t a threat. It’s just that the voice wasn’t what he was expecting. The red, metal suit had no other indications of her gender (which meant whoever built the thing was smart. Boob cups on armor were always pretty useless.)

  
Tony stood across from the young woman, his visor down, suit on, and he had Jarvis analyse the interloper’s suit. It appeared to be a titanium alloy, very similar to the one he used in all of his own suits. Impressive, if not a little concerning. Maybe, like Pepper said, he had been a little too forthcoming about this whole Iron Man business.

  
“Nice suit. I’d be a little impressed, if I hadn’t come up with it first,” Tony said to the young lady in the metal suit in front of him.

  
“Are you really Tony Stark?” she asked, as if she couldn’t quite believe it. Tony wasn’t sure what to make of the question.

  
“Where’d you get the suit? Black market? I’d be careful, if I were you. Most copycat attempts don’t end well for the test pilot,” Tony replied, avoiding her question. It wasn’t that he was afraid to answer. Maybe he just thought that if he did, he might have to face why she was really there. What he didn’t expect was for the girl to open the visor. And she really was a girl. Young, African-American…  _young_. The girl looked no older than 16 or 17, her eyes earnest and full of wonder.

  
“I thought you… You quit being Iron Man, right? I heard you quit,” the girl said, her eyes, a hazel brown, staring at Tony in genuine confusion. He had quit. Quite ceremoniously, in fact; exploding nearly every suit he owned.

  
“I didn’t quit. I retired,” he retorted, his visor still down.

  
“You blew up all the Iron Man suits. It was all over the news,” the girl said, taking a step towards him.

  
“And yet, you still managed to get your hands on one. Well, an inferior replica,” he said, quietly running a facial recognition on the young lady. The girl, however, scoffed, her metal clad hands clinking against her metal clad waist.

  
“Inferior? I designed and built this thing from scratch and it works just as well as any of yours,” she challenged him.

  
“Sir, her name is Lena Owens. She’s a robotics student at NYU Tandon,” Jarvis informed Tony, pulling up her school ID. Tony nodded a little.

  
“Thank you, Jarvis. Look. Lena? Is it? Your little science experiment or whatever is cool. You got it to fly, good for you. But you’re sorta trespassing, here, and I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Tony replied.

  
“How did you know my name?” she asked, taken aback.

  
“Facial recognition software. Found your school records. NYU? 3.9 GPA,” Tony rattled off.

  
“What? It’s 4.0,” she argued.

  
“Not what it says, here,”

  
“Since when?” she challenged him, her brows lifting.

 

“Look, kid, you can either leave the easy way, or I can escort you out,” Tony said plainly.

 

“No, wait! I-”

  
“Escort it is,” Tony said, and before the girl could even react, he’d picked her up and flown her beyond the balcony. Quickly, the girl closed her visor, struggling against Tony’s grasp.

  
“No, wait! Let go! I need to talk to you,” she argued.

  
“You haven’t been talking?” Tony retorted, pulling up directions to the NYU Tandon building.

  
“Let me go!” she fussed.

  
“I let you go, now, you drop,” he challenged her.

  
“My suit flies, dude,” she scoffed, but he stayed the course. The girl stopped struggling, crossing her metal arms. “Where are you taking me? Just put me on the ground.”

  
“Tandon,” he replied.

 

“I don’t live there, genius,” she argued.

  
“You don’t? I lived in the lab when I was at M.I.T.,”

  
“Maybe I don’t need to, to be as good as you,” she argued.

  
“It’s cute that you think you’re as good as me,” he said.

  
“I grew up middle class and taught myself how to build functioning robots before high school. You grew up the super rich son of Howard Stark,” Lena retorted. “I’m probably better than you, if we’re honest.”

  
“Okay, impressive,” he admitted. “I dunno about better…”

  
“Look, I need your help, okay? The Avengers,” she said. “Can we just… can we land somewhere?” Tony considered it for a moment. He let out a sigh, deciding to at least hear the kid out.

  
“Jarvis, find us a place to land. Private,” he said.

  
“Scanning rooftops, sir,” Jarvis replied. Jarvis showed Tony a comprehensive list of all the rooftops in the area, picking a nice unfinished one for them to land on. So, Tony took them down. When they landed, he set the girl down gently.

  
“Okay, what do you need my help with?” he said, his visor coming up for the first time. The girl followed suit, opening hers, her eyes filled with awe. Tony sighed, rolling his eyes a little. “Alright, yes, I’m Tony Stark. Wow, amazing.”

  
“Sorry. It’s just, you’re my... idol. Seeing you in person,” she said softly.

  
“What’s the problem?” Tony pushed, though mostly because he was just curious as to why this girl decided to bring her charade all the way to Avengers Tower.

  
“Oh. Right… So, for the past few months, after completing my suit, I’ve been going around the city, stopping crime,” she admitted. “Nothing big. Small stuff, mostly.”

  
“You’re the reason for those ‘Iron Man stopped my mugger’ rumors,” Tony interrupted.

  
“I guess. Sorry,” she winced.

  
“No, it’s cool. I like that people feel safe,”

  
“Yeah… but they won’t be safe if the Avengers don’t…. I stumbled across something. Something kinda bad,” she said.

  
“Bad like how?”

  
“I’m not sure. There’s this organization… as far as I can tell, they call themselves ‘The Hand,’” she said, her eyes suddenly fearful. She bit her pinkish lips, her eyes dropping away from Tony. “There was this kidnapping case. I thought I’d have to, just, like… fly in, rescue this kid, and leave. But… it was awful. They called him the Black Sky. They have these… people. Who aren’t just your regular bad guys. Like, they’re… almost superhuman. If it wasn’t for the suit, I’d probably be dead.”

  
“Kidnapping? So, why didn’t you call the police?” Tony asked. As bad as that sounded, it didn’t seem like a job for the Avengers.

  
“The police don’t stand a chance. The guy I faced could kill a regular person in seconds,” she replied.

  
“I’m sorry. You went to rescue a kidnapped kid-”

  
“Yes,”

  
“And you ran into a superhuman who can kill a regular person in seconds,” Tony continued. Lena nodded. “And, this is why we leave the superheroing to the superheroes, Ms. Owens.”

  
“A superhero is just someone who has the opportunity to help people who can’t help themselves, Mr. Stark. I have that opportunity to help the community. It wouldn’t be right for me not to. How was I supposed to know that I’d run into something like that? I just wanted to stop rapists and thieves and murderers… and give people hope that Iron Man didn’t abandon them,” Lena said, impassioned and convinced by her own mission. It was noble, but naive.

  
“When you put on a suit and go out there trying to be a hero on this scale, stuff like that finds you. That’s why people like me and the other Avengers train, that’s why we sacrifice. You can’t just put on a suit and call yourself Iron Man-”

  
“You did,” she challenged him.

  
“I did because I had to. And as soon as I became Iron Man, trouble followed. Do you understand that?” he scolded the girl.

  
“I’m not going to stop,” she said, her eyes glaring at him. “And if you won’t help me, I’ll just take down The Hand, myself.”

  
“Do what you gotta do, kid,” he said.

  
“Oh, just so you know? I think they’re planning to destroy Manhattan. They said something about finding the Black Sky so that they can begin the reckoning,” she said, closing her visor.

  
“Wait. Destroy Manhattan? I thought you said it was a kidnapping case,” Tony said.

  
“Do you listen?”

  
“... Tell me more about this ‘Hand’,”

_~~After Adventure w/ the Avengers & Daredevil foiling this Hand plot~~ _

Tony felt bad seeing the girl’s injuries. It looked like it really hurt. But she fought like a champion, and Tony even felt that she might be Avengers material. If she wanted to be. With her permission, they stood side by side as they worked to repair the damage to her suit. It really had been well built, with very similar structure to one of Tony’s earlier models. She’d reverse engineered a lot of it from pictures and videos of suit function, as well as analyses on fan boards. She really was an impressive girl.

  
“How old are you, anyway?” Tony asked as he quietly upgraded the girl’s suit with a functioning arc reactor.

  
“Nineteen,” she said.

  
“I gotta say, Lena. I’m impressed, I really am,” he commented.

  
“That means a lot. Especially coming from you,” she smiled, looking up at him as if he were truly a god. It made Tony think of a few Thor jokes, but he wasn’t sure if they’d make sense if he said them out loud. “Cool, an arc reactor? Yeah, I couldn’t figure that part out.”

  
“I made my own element-”

  
“Made your own element. I know,” she chuckled, saying it at the same time as him. “My power source was pretty clean and well functioning. I designed a tiny Tesla coil that would react to the sun, and store solar energy in a battery. The problem was that I could never get my repulsors to function as powerfully as yours do.”

  
“They will, now,” Tony said. “By the way, the amethyst crystals were a good way to concentrate the beam, but they’re not useful for converting electrons into muons, which is also why your repulsors weren’t as strong. I updated them for you.”

  
“Can I have my crystals back, though? I grew them,” she replied.

  
“I don’t care. Do whatever you want with them,” Tony muttered, examining her helmet. “This could also use some shock absorbtion. I’m surprised you’re not always concussed.”

  
“Mr. Stark?”

  
“Don’t get me wrong. This suit is very well made. How’d you fund it?”

  
“Grants, mostly. Ordered the material through school. Mr. Stark-”

  
“Imagine what you could do with unlimited resources,” he smiled at her, but the look in her eyes gave him pause. “What?”

  
“... There’s something I should tell you. I guess,” she started.

  
“Uh oh. Am I in trouble?” he asked jokingly.

  
“I mean, I don’t even know if it’s true. I mean, I have no way of knowing other than what I’ve been told, but-” the girl rambled, her hazel eyes faltering.

  
“Lena, what is it?” he had to admit, his heart was starting to race. The girl’s curly dark hair was a mess of a floppy afro, falling into her face as she held her eyes downcast, afraid to look at him. Tony wasn’t always the best judge of people’s demeanor, but this seemed like maybe bad news.

  
“I mean, all I know is what I’ve been told. I guess, I do have a way of knowing, but… that is to say, I guess I have to tell you what I’ve been told, first. Right?” she said, refusing to look up at him. Okay. What she said next, Tony admitted, had crossed his mind maybe for a split second, the first time he saw the girl. It crossed his mind, but just as soon as it did, he put it out of his mind, because it didn’t seem realistic. Then again, nothing in Tony’s life had ever been something one could honestly call “realistic.” So, when she said it, it almost didn’t register, for a moment. It felt like he was making it up in his mind. “Part of the reason… I came here is… _becauseIthinkyoumightbemyfather._ ”

  
He stared at her for a moment, after she said it. Maybe a moment too long. He stared, and she froze, her light brown face pinkish as her hazel eyes crept to look at him. He was staring too hard and too long, and he knew it, but he couldn’t really think of any good way to respond. Which is probably why he just said-

  
“I’m sorry, what?” he said, his face stoic and unchanged. She glanced up at him, then looked away quickly, anxiety all over her face.

  
“I know… I’m sorry. It’s… it’s probably not true,” she said. “I just, I don’t know why she would tell me that. You know?”

  
“Your… your mom told you I’m your father?” he asked.

  
“I mean. She didn’t tell me. I don’t think she was going to ever tell me,” Lena started, cautiously looking up at him. “But… then, she was sick, and… I think she wanted me to know, before she… I mean, I asked her so many times, and she-”

  
“She told you I’m your father?”

  
“Yes,”

  
“‘Tony Stark’? She said ‘Tony Stark is your father’?” he asked again, the thought feeling more absurd than not.

  
“It’s probably not true. I’ve been trying to figure out why she would say that for the past two years. All I can come up with is, maybe, because she knows how much I admire you, and she… wanted me to think my dad was this great man,” Lena explained, her eyes apologetic. “It’s… it’s probably not true, so…”

  
“She- she’s… did she pass away?” Tony asked, staring at the girl as if she was some sort of ghost. Lena nodded. “... I’m… I’m sorry. I-”

  
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have, um…”

  
“Who… what was her name? Your Mom,” Tony asked. Lena glanced at him, smiling a little.

  
“Adele. She, um… she used to be a model. She said she used to get invited to your parties all the time, and that’s how she met you,” Lena shook her head. “But, I dunno. She used to tell me all kinds of stories… about celebrities she met and hung out with. I don’t know what’s true and what’s legend. She was always telling stories.”

  
“Adele… Owens?” Tony asked, his mind vaguely recalling a beautiful brown girl with long hair that he met back in the early 90s. He was young, then, and used a lot of the partying and drinking to cope with the death of his parents. And the girls. Oh, the girls. There were quite a few of them, at that time. It embarrassed Tony that he couldn’t tell the girl that Adele was more special to him than she was, but he did like her. He remembered her being funny, which stood out from some of the other girls he’d spend time with. He remembered seeing her when he wanted to laugh.

  
“Duh. Lena Owens… no father… my last name would probably be hers,” Lena chuckled, smiling softly. “You don’t have to remember her. It’s okay. She said there were a lot of girls, and she wasn’t your girlfriend.”

  
“No, I do remember her. She wanted to be the next Naomi Campbell, and always made bad puns featuring my name,” Tony smiled at the memory, until the realization came crashing down on him that he was standing next to Adele Owens’ daughter, who was maybe his.

  
“Yeah, she loved puns. Got my fair share of dad jokes,” Lena chuckled.

  
“Adele’s dead…” Tony looked at the girl. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but he looked at her, looked for some kind of recognizable trait in her face. Which… felt kind of silly. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see. Some kind of sign hung on her forehead that read ‘Hi, I’m a Stark’ or something.

  
“I’m sorry…” Lena frowned. “I really didn’t think you’d remember her.”

  
“Time out. If I’m your father, why didn’t Adele just tell me?” he questioned.

  
“She said you didn’t know each other like that, and she was scared,” Lena replied, wincing a little. “I dunno. She was young, man.”

  
“Yeah, but I probably would’ve just… I mean, I wouldn’t have left her hanging. I’m not a bad guy.”

  
“You kinda were. Sorry…” Lena said calmly. “I mean, now, you’re a gem, but I’m, like, a Tony Stark encyclopedia. You were known for being the bad boy of science. You built weapons of mass destruction, slept with multiple women and almost never called them again or returned their calls, you made … obnoxious statements to the media, drank too much, made a spectacle of yourself, and you definitely did not make yourself easily accessible to the girls you… invited to parties… other than when you wanted to see them for a good time. She had every reason to be scared of you.”

  
“Not if she was carrying my child!” Tony yelled, stopping himself as soon as he did. Everything the girl said about him was true; he knew it was; but it was still painful to hear. And the worst part about it all was that he wasn’t really sure how to cope with an Iron Baby literally being dropped on his doorstep nineteen years later. He wasn’t sure how he was allowed to react. He needed a moment to process this. Taking a step away from the workstation he and Lena had been standing at, Tony took a deep breath, his hands running through his dark hair.

  
“Well. Maybe she wasn’t. She probably just told me that to make me feel better,” Lena said softly. “... And I really shouldn’t have told you without some sort of confirmation.”

  
“Do you really think your mother would use her dying breath to lie to you about who your father is?” Tony looked at her, his eyes stern. Lena shrunk back a little.

  
“I mean, it wasn’t her dying breath,” she said. Tony just stared at her. He stared at her face as she glanced shyly at him, as she gave him an uncertain smile. She looked like his mother. Brown, sure. Maybe he could even see some of Adele’s features in her. But she did; she looked like Maria Stark. He rubbed a hand over his goatee, shaking the thought out of his head. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe he was just letting the power of suggestion take over. Or maybe the thought of having a nearly twenty year old kid terrified him.

“Just… forget I said anything. It’s probably not true.”

  
“DNA test,” Tony said, snapping his fingers. “Jarvis?”

  
“I need Ms. Owens’s consent before I can collect a DNA sample,” Jarvis said. Lena, disgust on her face, looked around for the disembodied voice.

  
“What the fuck? What happened to a cotton swab of the cheek?” she scoffed. Tony shook his head. “How the hell is your AI gonna collect a DNA sample?”

  
“Lena. Hair. Cheek swab. Fingernails, I dunno. A vial of blood. Volunteer something,” Tony snapped; he didn’t really mean to snap. Lena stared at him for a moment, apprehension in her eyes.

  
“Uh… Jarvis, what would you prefer?” Lena asked the AI.

  
“If you’re comfortable with a cheek swab, that would work quite well, Ms. Owens,” Jarvis replied.

  
“Uh… yeah, let’s do that,” Lena nodded, glancing at Tony.

 

****

 

“It’s kinda like an episode of Maury,” Pepper said, standing in the doorway as Tony stared obsessively at the holoscreen results of Jarvis’ DNA profiles of both him and Lena. He didn’t respond to Pepper’s ribbing. He was still trying to find a margin of error in the results. “So… what’s the reveal?”

  
“Pepper,” Tony muttered.

  
“I’m your daughter?” she teased. Tony glared at her. “Sheesh. Tough room, tonight.”

  
“What do you want, Ms. Potts?”

  
“Ms. Potts?” Pepper was sort of taken aback by Tony’s tone. Sure, this was big, but she didn’t think Tony Stark, of all people, would react so emotionally to this Lena situation. Or, maybe, she didn’t think Lena would end up being his. She realized, in that moment, that she must’ve been. “Tony-”

  
“I guess I should call the kid,” Tony said. “She’ll probably be happy.”

  
“... Congratulations,” Pepper said, walking to the man and placing her hand on his shoulder.

  
“Hm.”

  
“Tony. Are you okay?”

  
“Yeah. Yeah, she’s a great kid,” he nodded, his eyes staring at the results. 99.9% chance of paternity. He glanced at Pepper, flashed her a smile, then closed out the holoscreen.

  
“Are you sure?” Pepper asked, her eyes studying Tony’s face.

  
“... You’re not upset?”

  
“Why should I be upset at something you did 20 years ago?” Pepper smiled at him. He sighed, his feet carrying him to the window. Pepper watched as he stared out of it distantly, his hand rubbing at his goatee. “Tony… are you sure you’re okay?”

  
“Yeah. I mean… I totally missed out on every part of my daughter’s life. And I didn’t even know I had any living relatives until earlier today. Other than that.”

  
“Well… you can be a part of her life, now,” Pepper offered, giving him his space.

  
“Pepper, she’s an adult,” he said, his voice low.

  
“I know. But… it’s not too late to have a relationship with her. I mean, you didn’t want to raise a child, anyway,” she teased.

  
“I would’ve raised her,” he snapped, turning to Pepper. There were tears in his eyes. “Hell, she probably would’ve helped raise me. I wasted so much time being a playboy, not giving a shit about anyone or anything, and I had a little girl out there, growing up without a daddy, who I could’ve been there for. We needed each other, Pepper. And I didn’t even know she existed.”

  
“I know. I can’t imagine how you must feel, right now,” Pepper offered, empathy in her eyes.

  
“Is it bad that I’m kinda furious at Adele? I mean, she’s dead, Pepper, and I’m kinda furious at her,” Tony chuckled dryly. “She could’ve told me. Yeah, I was a piece of shit, but she could’ve given me the option to try not to be. And I would’ve, for Lena. I wouldn’t have let her grow up like that. I would’ve given her everything, Pepper! And she’s so fucking smart. Imagine what she could’ve done with my resources.”

  
“You can still give her everything, Tony. She’s nineteen, she still needs you,” Pepper said, unsure of what to really say. Tony shook his head a little, and then he covered his eyes. He stood, frozen, for just a moment. He was crying. Pepper sighed, and she walked over to him, engulfing him in her arms. “Tony… you can still give her everything.”

  
“I just feel like it’s my fault,” he cried, his arms sliding around Pepper for support. His face burrowing into her shoulder. “If I wasn’t a piece of shit-”

  
“Thinking like that isn’t going to help,” she said softly, holding him.

  
“It’s probably my fault, Pepper. I remember… I tried to call Adele, once. And her number was disconnected, so I just… I called someone else. That was the last time I tried to contact her. She was having my kid, and I just… called someone else,” Tony said, pulling out of Pepper’s arms and wiping his face. He looked a little embarrassed, so Pepper hugged him, anyway. “I need to call Lena.”

  
“Call in the morning. Take some time to collect your thoughts,” Pepper suggested. Tony looked at her, his eyes reddish from crying, and he kissed her softly.

  
“You’re right. I can’t call her like this,” he said, shaking his head, a hand running through Pepper’s hair.

  
“I need you to understand that what happened _happened_ , and there’s nothing you can do to change it. What you can do is decide what your relationship to your daughter is going to be from this moment on. Okay? No guilt, no shame… just what’s best for you, and what’s best for Lena,” she said, looking into his eyes. Tony nodded. “Okay?”

  
“Yeah,” he muttered. Pepper smiled.

  
“Big baby. You should be happy,” she chuckled, hitting his chest playfully. Tony smiled a little.

  
“I am… did you see the suit she built?” he chuckled. “She’s a genius.”

  
“She’s a _Stark_ ,” Pepper offered. Tony smiled a little, nodding.

  
“Yeah… yeah, she is.”


	2. After Titan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the aftermath of an epic battle.
> 
> And Captain Rogers has brought an new addition to the Avengers team. James Barnes.

_Avengers Facility - Upstate New York. 2019_

 

It had been a long year. Lena figured that this Thanos creep didn’t really understand the power he was playing with. He erased people, but didn’t erase their memory, or their impact. Living, this past year, with the remaining Avengers, trying to pick up the pieces, find her father, and figure out what to do next had been such a challenge. Challenge was maybe putting it too lightly. It was hell. Steve Rogers, who she’d always looked up to, paced the first few weeks, trying his best to figure out what the next move should be. He felt like it was his fault. He’d lost his two closest friends, Sam, who Lena knew well, and Bucky, who she only knew as the man who killed her grandparents. But he’d lost so much more than that. He’d lost. He felt as if he’d failed every living being in the universe. Every night he’d stare pensively out of the vast windows in the halls of the upstate facility. The Avengers had holed themselves up, there, while they worked out a plan. And lent their hands to helping people around the world who were suffering because of what Thanos did.

Lena always thought it would be fun to take over as Iron Man. It just made her miss him.

When the time came to take the fight back to Thanos, to make the efforts to restore things to the way they were, Steve told her to stay behind. He said it was because it wasn’t safe, but that was bullshit. She had been Ironheart for years, now, going on her own missions, and helping the Avengers when needed. Natasha Romanoff said it was because he was afraid to lose the small part of Tony he had left. Lena sort of thought it was sweet, so when Steve, Thor, the superpowered woman known as Captain Marvel, and the Raccoon figured out how to program a downed Titan ship to lead them to the purple monster himself, Lena let them drop her off in Wakanda. Which was fine. She had her own mission. She was going to get her father home.

She and the princess, Shuri, had been coordinating for months to build a way to find him. Shuri figured out that if he still had his suit, like he had when he left Earth, they would be able to find him. Maybe even tap into the coms. When she landed in Wakanda, it was the first thing Shuri was happy to tell her. They were able to communicate with Tony, now. It was working. But there was bad news, too. He was stranded on Titan with a blue girl named Nebula, and had spent much of the year avoiding Thanos and trying to survive. And he was afraid. He was afraid Thanos would crush him. He was afraid that everyone he loved was gone. Peter was gone. Lena sobbed when she he told her. The kid was annoyingly enthusiastic, but he was great, and she’d loved working with Tony to give Peter new innovations to his Spider-Man suit. Lena had watched as Pepper turned to ash and blew away in front of her. Pepper had been the closest thing she had to a mother. It felt like Thanos had ripped her family in half. She didn’t have the heart to tell Tony that Pepper was gone.

But she did tell him that Steve and Thor were on their way, accompanied by a woman called Captain Marvel and a wiley little raccoon who called himself Rocket. And they even were able to get Steve and Tony in contact with each other. It was the first time they’d spoken since… since Siberia.

 

But all of that was over, now. Steve and Tony had set aside their differences, and the girl named Nebula helped them take down the Mad Titan. And now everyone was home. Everything was back to normal.

 

As normal as things could be after…

 

Lena got the idea that they knew they had been gone. That they simply didn’t exist, for a while. Peter’s eyes seemed more distant, now. He was the same bright kid he’d always been, but the calm maturity in him felt eerie. She wished she could comfort him. She didn’t know how.

And her father hugged her tighter than he ever had before. When he first got back to Earth, he said to her “I was so sure you were gone.” Those words haunted her. In his absence, she’d leaned on Rhodey as a father figure. He didn’t have any kids of his own, and she had been an adult when she met all of them, but he sat and listened to her ramble about Harry Potter, and let her make pointless upgrades to his War Machine armor to take her mind off of things, and when she needed to cry because everything felt hopeless, he held her in a way that made her feel like a little kid, again. Tony thanked him vigorously when he got back. Even if it embarrassed her a little, Lena still got a warm feeling whenever Tony acted like her dad.

 

Then, there was the large man with the metal arm and deep eyes, who walked into the Avengers Facility as if he were unsure his presence was wanted. His hair was long and a warm brownish black, and his eyes, ice blue, looked to be the eyes of a man who had stared the devil in the face a hundred times before. Her heart sort of stopped when she saw him. She wasn’t sure if the sight of him unnerved her, or if it was just that the Thanos victims all sort of felt like looking at ghosts. He stuck close to Captain America, but his eyes looked around the place as if he were sort of ashamed to be there.

And her father, she noticed, stayed far away. As far away as he could.

“Maybe you should’ve taken me back to Wakanda,” the man said; Bucky, she figured out.

“C’mon, Buck. You’ve been away from home long enough,” Steve said to him in response.

“Maybe I don’t know what home is, anymore,” Bucky replied, his eyes watching cautiously as Sam Wilson emerged, groggy and just as distant as the rest of the Thanos victims, from one of the rooms on site. Steve rushed to Sam almost anxiously, his blue eyes gazing at the man as if he may disappear again.

“Sam,” Steve said, bracing Sam’s arm. Sam gave him a weak smile.

“Don’t start that. How’s Buck doing?” Sam asked.

“About as well as can be expected. Wants to return to Wakanda, so... that’s where we are, now,” Steve commented. Bucky’s eyes studied the two Avengers, his flesh hand touching his metal arm absently. As if he still hadn’t gotten used to it being there. Lena wondered how long he’d had it.

“Man, _I_ wanna return to Wakanda,” Sam joked, his voice big and his laugh as playful as Lena remembered. She smiled a little at the sound, watching them all from a standing table in the hall, where she had been working on schematics. She’d gotten some really cool virtual tech from Shuri that, if she wanted, she could use to build new gadgets without having to do anything by hand. Except Lena liked the by hand part, so she just used the virtual stuff for design.

When she glanced over at the trio again, Bucky was looking at her. It made her heart skip, and she looked away quickly, her face flushing. Maybe it was because Tony had told her that Bucky was the one who killed her grandparents. Maybe the guy seemed a little eerie. She wasn’t sure. But, when she glanced at them, again, he was still staring. Cap had gotten lost in conversation about Wakanda with Sam, and Bucky stood just behind Steve, as if he weren’t part of the group. It fascinated and confused Lena. Which must have shown on her face, because that’s when Bucky stopped staring at her.

“You wanna help me show Buck the best parts of the facility?” Steve asked Sam, and Lena almost interjected that she’d love to. If only because she was curious about the strange man. But, instead, she turned her attention back to the work she’d started, and pretended not to notice as the men walked towards her. Steve, ever the gentleman, smiled politely as they did.

“Hello, Lena. Whatcha workin’ on?” he asked, like he always would. She knew he didn’t understand the science, but it was always sweet of him to ask.

“Thought the Avengers could use some upgrades. This one’s for Wanda,” Lena replied, showing the men a hologram of the schematics for a new headpiece for Wanda to wear. “Should help her focus her powers better.”

“Man, look at you. You Starks all born smart, or what?” Sam smiled at her. Lena chuckled. “Leave it to Tony to have the smartest daughter in the world.”

“Princess Shuri’s the smartest daughter in the world,” Lena commented, continuing her work.

“Looks great, Lena. Good job,” Steve said kindly. “We’re giving the tour. Wanna come?” he offered, ever the gentleman. Lena smiled, but she shook her head.

“Better not,” she said. Her eyes locked with Bucky’s. It felt weird, but she couldn’t look away, and neither did he. After a moment, she made a face, and her eyes dropped. Steve’s brows rose, and he glanced at Bucky, as if he caught something. Lena wanted to make some sort of comment to disarm the situation, but she decided against it. Probably would be more incriminating than not.

“Uh. Buck, this is _Stark’s_ daughter, Lena,” Steve said, though Lena could hear the subtext loud and clear. Stark’s daughter. You don’t wanna go there. Lena wondered if Bucky did wanna go there. “Lena, this is my oldest friend, Sergeant James Barnes.”

“Bucky,” the man finally said. Lena smiled softly at him.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, her voice small.

“Uh oh,” Sam chuckled. Steve gave him a look. “What? I didn’t say nothin’.”

“We’ll see you around, Lena,” Steve said gently, smiling at her before ushering his friends away. Bucky gave her an awkward nod as they led him away.

“Man, Wakanda was good you, huh,” she heard Sam tease as they walked away. Bucky just glared at him. “Once you go black-”

“Sam,” Steve said, their voices growing more distant as they walked away. Lena chuckled to themselves.

“I’m just saying!”

“We just got back on Tony’s good side,” the Captain said.

“Relax. She’s a kid,” was the last thing she heard any of them say. It was Bucky. It was the only thing he said in defense of himself. And it made her heart jump, again. A kid. _A kid_. She wasn't a kid, and for some reason, hearing him say that annoyed her. She was 24 years old. And, she understood that Steve Rogers and his friend Bucky were about 100 years old, but she was an adult, and if she was a kid, to them, so was Sam.

 

It was hours later. In fact, it was night, and Lena was still working. There wasn’t much of a reason to take a break. Her father was the same way. He could go into his lab and not emerge for a week or more, if they didn’t make him. She’d taken a small break to blend herself a green smoothie in the kitchen, and talk with Wanda and Natasha about how gross the men were to live with (and about how glad they were to all be together, again), but then she’d taken up position at the standing desk she’d been working at, and went to work, again. She’d used the kimoyo beads that Shuri gave her to call the princess and ask for advice on her design, and then laugh at a video of King T’Challa that the princess had remixed, but after they finished chatting, she’d been so in the zone that she didn’t even notice what time it was.

She almost didn’t even notice Sergeant Barnes when he sauntered over to the table, but his metal arm clinked when he leaned against it, and Lena nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Shit! Sergeant Barnes!” she gasped, nearly closing out of the hologram on accident.

“Bucky,” he corrected her, smiling a little.

“Right,” she replied, staring at him. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. “Well.”

“You’re still working?” he asked casually. Like, really casually. Like, so casually she wasn’t expecting it. He just sounded like a guy. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t expecting The Winter Soldier. The legendary assassin, brainwashed killing machine who only knew the objective. But he talked just like a guy from Brooklyn, and he seemed _young_. Like a guy she could’ve known in college. It caught her off guard.

“Um. Yeah…” she replied, her eyes shifting back to her work as she fixed a small error. “You’re still up?”

“I can’t really sleep, here,” he said, exhaling.

“Jet lag?” she inferred.

“Yeah..” he said, considering that for a moment. “No…” he decided. Lena glanced at him. His eyes were sort of staring at her. It still unnerved her, a little. Or, maybe it wasn’t “unnerving.” Maybe they just made her nervous. “I dunno. In Wakanda, I can sleep near the river. It’s quiet, except I can hear beautiful sounds of nature, at night. Then, the kids come and wake me up. I thought they were scared of me, at first, but then I figured out that they were just playing. I had to pick up some Xhosa. But… then Shuri told me that most kids in Wakanda speak about three languages and most of them probably know English,” he smiled a little at the story, and let out a small laugh. Somehow, it fascinated Lena. Somehow, she wasn’t expecting a laugh. Her hazel eyes studied him for a moment. He glanced up at her. “Sorry. Am I bothering you?”

“Yeah, you’re totally bothering me” she smiled playfully.

“Sorry,” he said, almost dejectedly. Then he stood back from the table, as if he wasn’t sure if he should leave, or not.

“I was just teasing. But… you should probably get some sleep, Bucky,” she said.

“I think, maybe, it’s that I feel like they don’t trust me, yet,” he rationalized.

“The Avengers?” she inferred.

“Mostly your father,” Bucky nodded. Lena sighed.

“Yeah,” she nodded. She wasn’t so sure her father trusted him, either. “But, we’re all one big happy family, now. So, no worries. He understands that you’re on the same side… that… you weren’t in charge of your actions, before.”

“I still did those things,” Bucky replied starkly. “Shuri did an amazing job… getting Hydra outta my head. But I had to come to terms with what I did.”

“I can imagine,” Lena sympathized.

“I’m sorry… about your grandparents. I know you never met them,” he said.

“Oh… yeah, it’s cool,” she nodded.

“Why do you guys say things like that? ‘It’s cool’,” he smiled, chuckling a little. “I don’t understand half of what kids are saying, these days.”

“You know, I’m not a _kid_. I’m 24,” she pointed out. “Back in your day, I’d be an old maid, right?”

“Back in my day?” he laughed a little, and Lena smiled. He had a nice laugh, for an assassin. He seemed really nice. “Are you sayin’ I’m old?”

“Well… you fought in World War II,” she pointed out.

“Touche,” he smiled at her. She could feel her cheeks flushing, again, so she looked away, thanking the night for covering her with enough darkness to mask it. “I think you’re the only person that’s talked to me since I’ve been here. I mean, other than Steve…”

“Not Sam?” Lena inferred. He nodded a little.

“Sam’s… interesting,” Bucky said. “... When he’s around, he and Steve… I dunno. I feel kinda like a third wheel.”

“You feel like you’re losing your best friend?” she asked, closing out her hologram. Work was over. Bucky was far more interesting. He shook his head.

“No, no… I dunno,” he said, rubbing at the scruffy hair on his face with his real hand. “This might sound strange, but I guess I don’t feel I fit here. Fit in this world. Steve talks like I can be an Avenger. I feel more at home in Wakanda. I keep telling them to take me back.”

“Well… you’re loved, here. Steve loves you,” Lena reassured him. He smiled a little.

“Yeah. I owe him everything,” Bucky said. “But… I got family in Wakanda, too.”

“I think Steve would understand if you went back,” she said softly.

“I dunno… I think he needs me,” Bucky said. “I think me being here… is more for him.”

“So, do you think you’re going to stay?” she asked, trying not to sound too eager.

“As long as he needs me,” Bucky said. Lena smiled at him, and he smiled back. “You know, you have beautiful eyes.”

“Oh… Um, thanks,” Lena said, looking away from him quickly, her fingers playing with her kimoyo beads.

“Oh, don’t do that. You might accidentally turn on something,” Bucky said, putting his hand on hers to stop her fidgeting. She glanced at him, and he pulled his hand away.

“Shuri… showed me how they work, so…” she said softly.

“I have some, too. They’re in my bunk,” he said, smiling. “T’Challa really wanted to keep in touch, after everything.”

“I’m sure…” she nodded awkwardly.

“... Sorry,” Bucky apologized, presumably for touching her. Lena just nodded. She wasn’t sure what to do. “Man, I can’t believe Tony Stark has a daughter. Of all people.”

“I know, right?” she chuckled. “We get that a lot, now.”

“... Steve was kind of warning me, you know,” Bucky said.

“I noticed. I’m very perceptive,” Lena replied casually, looking for anything to busy her.

“... You know, I’m not used to doing this much talking,” he mentioned.

“No?” she replied, glancing at him.

“No,” he chuckled. Then, they both fell silent for a moment. Neither sure of what to say. “I think you may talk less than I do. Which is saying something.”

“I talk,” she replied, biting her lip. She was kind of sure, now, that Bucky did want to go there. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. On the one hand, he was a pretty attractive man. I mean, he was tall, and had pretty eyes, and as in good shape, and when he smiled, he seemed to totally light up. But on the other hand, he was actually 100 years old, no matter how young he looked, and there was the little fact that he killed her grandparents. Tony would never approve. No. Tony would probably go ballistic.

“Well…” Bucky said, his smile fading a bit. “Maybe I’ll talk to you again, tomorrow.”

“Gonna get some sleep?” she asked him, finally looking at him. He looked a little dejected, as if she’d shot him down.

“Yeah. I’ll try,” he said.

“Okay… Goodnight, Bucky,” she smiled reassuringly. She knew that, at any rate, the guy probably did feel alone, there. And she probably was the only person who had spoken to him like he was a real person, there.

“... I really like talking to you, Lena,” he said cautiously, as if he would offend her for saying it. She smiled, though, to let him see that this was okay.

“Yeah, me too.”

“That’s keen,” he smiled. Lena laughed a little, because the word was really old, and sometimes it was really apparent that the last time this man had a casual conversation with an American was probably 1940-something.

“Yeah,”

“Is that wrong?” he asked, wincing a little. She shook her head.

“It’s fine,” she smiled.

“Okay,” he nodded, waving at her with his metal hand. “Goodnight,” he said, backing away from the table.

“‘Night, Buck,” she said casually, smiling at him. He smiled a little at being called Buck. Maybe, because it felt normal- _good._ Then he turned and he disappeared into one of the rooms. Lena’s eyes lingered even when he disappeared out of sight, because Bucky Barnes was a fascinating man, and even though she really shouldn’t have been, she was fascinated.

 

Lena awakened groggily at approximately 11:42 AM the next morning, tucked neatly into her bed in her room on the compound. That was strange, because Lena didn’t remember going back to her room, or going to bed. She sat up, her curly afro standing straight up, and she slowly moved her feet to the ground. She still had on her clothes from the day before. There was a possibility that, in a stupor, she stumbled to her room and crashed some time in the wee hours, but she honestly didn’t remember leaving her work station. The last thing she remembered was pulling up a biometric scan of Wanda’s head, to test the function of her 3D model.

The model! She couldn’t remember closing the program, and the last thing she wanted was anyone messing with her work. Least of all Tony, who always managed to find some way to change what she was doing, even if it was just a small way. Pepper said it was his way of showing pride in her ability and intellect, but it certainly felt more like criticism.

Lena nearly leapt from her bed, and she ran to the workstation, speeding past what looked like Rhodey and Natasha out of the corner of her vision. But when she got to the workstation, it was perfectly neat, and her hologram wasn’t running. She stood in confusion for a moment, then she pulled up the schematics just to see if they were different. Nothing looked changed.

Quickly, she called Bruce on the coms, just to check to see if he had been the one to clean up after her.

“Hey, Lena,” he answered happily. He always sounded happy, these days. It was as if he’d finally gotten a moment to relax.

“Bruce, did you mess with my workstation?” she asked him quickly.

“Lena, you gotta stop calling that table out there your workstation,” he teased.

“Did you?”

“You should go work in one of the labs. What did your dad build, 50 of them?” he continued.

“Dr. Banner,” Lena pushed.

“Is it so you can spy and fangirl over everyone?” he asked. Lena chuckled a little.

“Bye Bruce,” she said plainly.

“Wait. What are you working on?” he asked.

“Something for Wanda,” she said.

“Hey, if you’re building, I want something,” he suggested. She laughed.

“What does the Hulk even need?”

“I dunno. We’re still not on speaking terms,” Banner said, sighing.

“Oh, so this is a Bruce Banner request,” Lena said. “I thought you were a pacifist.”

“After Thanos, I dunno, anymore,” he said. “I went through a lot. I went to space, Lena. Then, Hulk wouldn’t let me out. It was a whole thing.”

“I know,” Lena acknowledged. He had been sorely missed, when he was gone. “Hey, have you seen my dad?”

“No, I haven’t. Hey, you should check with Rogers,” he said.

“Cool, thanks,”

“Hey, do you wanna watch ‘Baby Driver’?” Bruce offered. Lena chuckled.

“Maybe later,” she said.

“Cool. I’m gonna watch it with the Spider kid and Thor,” Bruce said.

“I’ve already seen it like 20 times,” Peter called out in the background.

“It’s a good movie!” Bruce argued.

“Why do they allow this baby to drive?” she heard Thor ask.

“No, Thor, his name is Baby,” Bruce explained.

“I’ll talk to you later, Bruce,” Lena chuckled, turning off her coms. She had almost forgotten that someone had maybe messed with her work. Bruce was at least two decades older than her, but he had come to feel somewhat like an older brother.

She decided to look over the schematic again, when she felt someone looking at her from the left. She glanced instinctively, and there he was, again. Bucky Barnes. His eyes stared at her as if he wasn’t sure if he should say anything. She waved at him, smiling a little, but instead of waving back, he just ducked into a room quickly, as if he hadn’t expected to be noticed.

Lena shrugged it off. She decided to go look for her dad. Maybe to pick a fight about the workstation. It was always sort of fun arguing with him about her designs, even if she didn’t really want to admit it.

 

She found him where she thought he’d be, in a lab, working like a madman to perfect his nano-tech. Ever since he’d seen what Shuri created in Wakanda, he’d seen so many ways to improve his own work. (Of course, he didn’t mind taking a few tips from the young princess, either.) Interestingly enough, she found him there with Steve, like Bruce said. They had been discussing design upgrades to everyone’s gear. Lena guessed Thanos had made everyone feel a lot more vulnerable than ever before.

“Stark,” Lena said sharply as she walked into the lab.

“That was locked. I was sure I locked it,” Tony said, blinking at Lena as he pointed at the door.

“Biometrics? Please, you know that’s a breeze, for me,” she said, crossing her arms. “Hi, Steve.”

“Lena,” the Captain nodded, smirking a bit.

“What is it, progeny?” Tony asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Did you mess with my stuff?” she asked, her voice coarse.

“What ‘stuff’?” he blinked, staring at the girl.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she pushed.

“Oh, you mean that tiara you’re making for Wanda?”

“It’s not a tiara,” Lena huffed.

“No, I didn’t touch your art project. By the way, if you worked in the lab I built especially for you to work in, you wouldn’t have to go around asking who touched your stuff,” Tony commented.

“I don’t like being stuck in a lab. You know that,” she complained.

“Hm. That’s great. I only spent a few million on it,” Tony said, showing off by opening a room scale hologram of the new quinjet design he had for the Avengers. “Steve, don’t have children.”

“I don’t know. Might be nice to have a few,” Steve commented. “If Lena’s your example, she makes the case pretty well.”

“Tony had very little to do with that,” Lena retorted, smiling.

“Just half your DNA,” Tony added, pretending her words didn’t bother him at all. “And would you stop? Calling me ‘Tony’?”

“Okay, Mr. Stark,” she smiled at him.

“Lena. You’re killing me,” he huffed. Steve laughed a little. “What is this? Is this… are you laughing, Cap?”

“No, I mean. It’s sweet. You love your daughter,” Steve said through a laugh.

“Of course I love my daughter. I’m not sure I see the humor in this particular-” he started. Lena laughed a little. “Alright. Comedy hour. Laugh it up.”

“Dad, I’m just messing with you,” Lena giggled.

“We discussed this. Was that so hard?” he said scoldingly, giving Cap a look daring him to laugh.

“Sorry,” she chuckled.

“No, I’m serious. Okay? I don’t feel comfortable with you using my name like that,” he said sternly.

“Oh, come on. You’re never serious. I don’t understand why it pisses you off-”

“It’s a respect thing. I know it’s only been a few years, but I-”

“You’re making it weird, Stark,” Lena scolded him, giving him a look.

“What? Not in front of Captain America? Fine,” Tony shrugged, turning back to his work. “ _Stark_ ,” he said harshly, as if to say two can play that game. She rolled her eyes a little.

“She was only kidding, Tony,” Steve interjected.

“I’m aware,” he commented.

“The plane looks stupid, by the way,” Lena said, just to annoy him.

“Well. Ironheart’s a stupid name,” he retorted. Lena smirked.

“So is Iron Man,”

“I didn’t name myself,” Tony scoffed, looking back at her. She smiled at him. He sighed. “Why do you insist on doing this?”

“It’s fun…” she said gently. “It makes me laugh.”

“... Ironheart’s not a stupid name,” Tony said apologetically, turning back to his work.

“Yeah, it is. But we all have stupid code names. So what?” she smiled, watching him work. It was still kind of cool, having Tony Stark for a dad. “Dadddddy…”

“What, daughter?” Tony replied, fighting a smile.

“... Do you like it? My project…” she asked expectantly. He smiled a little, glancing back at her.

“It’s a little bulky. And might come off in a battle,” he commented.

“No, it’s not,” she protested. “You haven’t even seen a prototype.”

“You should consider making it emerge from something she can wear at all times. Discreet and lightweight,” Tony offered. Lena’s eyes lit up.

“Like Star-Lord’s mask!” she exclaimed.

“Now you’re thinking,” he said, turning to look at her with pride in his eyes.

“Thanks,” she smiled, waving at Steve. “See ya, Rogers.”

“Bye,” Steve said. Lena left the lab quickly, the new idea in her head. She knew she needed to call Shuri for tips. Or, maybe she just wanted to talk to her new friend.

“Smart,” Steve commented, as she left.

“Too enthusiastic,” Tony commented. “She acts before she thinks things through.”

“Wonder where she gets that from,” Steve said, smirking as Tony looked at him.


	3. Awakenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena's feelings for Bucky are super obvious to everyone but Lena.
> 
> Meanwhile, a prince from Atlantis isn't too pleased with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

“I’m not… so sure about this,” Wanda said as Lena slid the head piece prototype onto her head. Lena stood over her as she had Wanda sitting on what essentially was an operating table. The thing fit snug, and was silverish in color, and made from the same materials as her and Tony’s suits. It felt cold against Wanda’s skin, though it adhered to her forehead by means that Wanda didn’t quite understand.

“What’s not to be sure about?” Lena asked, taking a step back to look at the headpiece on Wanda’s head. It came down to a point between her eyebrows, and flaired upwards towards her temples. Lena thought it looked kind of cool on her, but she hadn’t let Wanda see it, yet.

Wanda watched as her tech-obsessed friend pulled up holographic controls from her kimoyo bead bracelet. Then, Lena smiled at her.

“Okay. Try it,” she prompted her.

“What do you want me to do?” Wanda frowned a little.

“I dunno. Something dope,” Lena said. For once, they were working in Lena’s lab. Tony had insisted on Lena utilizing the workspace that he never let her forget ran him a few million bucks to perfect. It still wasn’t Lena’s jam, to work confined to a lab, but it did seem like a better place to test her gadgets- and a safer place for all involved.

In this lab, Wanda could do whatever she pleased with her powers, and they wouldn’t disturb, or accidentally hurt, anyone.

“Everything I do is dope,” Wanda smiled playfully. Lena chuckled, nodding.

“True. You know what, let’s try this,” Lena said, pulling a full body clothing form out of a corner that was cluttered with things she used to design and create the functioning costume pieces she made for herself and the team. She sat the form in the middle of the lab, where the floor was clear. “Attack this dude.”

“It’s a 'dude'?” Wanda chuckled.

“I mean, whatever,” Lena smiled, backing away from the form. “Lift it in the air, crush it, throw it across the room… whatever you want. I should warn you, the headpiece will probably make your powers a lot more… _effortless_.”

“Effortless?” Wanda asked.

“I’m turning it on,” Lena said, pressing commands on the holoscreen in her kimoyo beads. “You’ll see.”

“Okay…” Wanda focused on the form, her fingers twisting as she lifted the thing in the air, engulfing it in the reddish energy she emitted. “What if I-” Wanda started to ask, but the form went careening into the wall, slamming against it hard enough to leave a large dent. Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin in surprise.

“Holy _shit_ , Wanda!” Lena yelled.

“Okay, you weren’t kidding about that effortless stuff,” she commented. “I was just thinking about throwing it, and off it went.”

“Yeah… maybe I should adjust the specs. That’s an accident waiting to happen,” Lena frowned, turning the headpiece off. She walked over to Wanda, carefully removing it from her head.

“It’s really cool, Lena. I like it a lot,” Wanda said.

“Yeah… well, you’re the most powerful Avenger, Wanda. I just… think you don’t realize that,” Lena commented, smiling at her friend.

“I don’t think I am. Maybe Thor…”

“I said what I said, sis,” Lena chuckled. “I’m thinking red.”

“Of course you are,” Wanda teased.

“Whatever, your powers are red, you look good in red!” Lena smiled, laughing a little.

 

 

Wanda had been gushing about the headpiece Lena designed for her- which, when she finally gotten to see on herself, she loved the look of. Somehow, however, when the news got back to Lena’s dad, she couldn’t seem to hear the last of it. Tony had spent the better half of a week teasing Lena about becoming a “jewelry-maker to the stars,” and fake-ordering “tiaras” for the whole team. She responded by programming the nano-particles in his bleeding-edge armor to make his Iron Man suit appear “bedazzled” with rhinestones every time he tried to suit up.

He pretended not to think it was hilarious. Lena knew he did, because he didn’t fix it until nearly everyone in the facility had gotten a chance to tease him about it at least once.

 

 

But the best development of Wanda’s now-infamous headpiece was the request she got from Sam Wilson to upgrade his wings. He liked the idea of neural integration, the way Lena had designed Wanda’s gear. And so Lena found herself back in her lab, taking preliminary measurements of a very excited Sam Wilson.

Of course, where there was Sam, there was Steve, and Steve, being perhaps the most loyal friend she’d ever heard of, brought _him_ along. Bucky.

Bucky sat away from them, watching as she measured Sam’s arm span, scanning him with the kimoyo beads Shuri had provided her. They were perhaps the single most useful thing she now owned. Steve stood close by, watching Lena work, or, more specifically, watching Sam. There was a quiet worry in the Captain’s eyes. Maybe, Lena figured, he’d lost too many people too many times. Maybe he felt like if he looked away, Sam would disappear again.

Lena knew exactly how he felt.

“Doesn’t your dad keep all our measurements in some kinda big database, Lena?” Sam asked as the young woman circled him, her kimoyo beads taking a head to toe scan.

“It’s funny how you assume I share data with my dad,” Lena responded dryly, fighting a smirk.

“What you mean ‘assume’? Y’all got the same suit,” Sam commented, lifting a brow. Steve chuckled. “I’m just sayin’ she talkin’ bout they don’t share data. Meanwhile she’s flyin’ around in _basically_ an Iron Man suit.”

“It’s an Iron _heart_ suit. Completely different,” Lena retorted, trying not to laugh.

“Of course. It’s its own thing, Sam,” Steve commented. Lena laughed. “ _Totally_ different. I don’t see how you don’t see it.”

“Y’all are assholes,” Lena said. “I’m gonna tell the world Captain America and Falcon are assholes.”

“Okay. And you and your dad got the same suit,” Sam reiterated. Lena shot him a look.

“But I built mine. My skills are far superior to Stark 2.0,” she replied confidently.

“She does have skills, Sam,” Steve agreed.

“Can I move, now?” Sam asked her.

“You could’ve been moving. I didn’t say you needed to stand still,” Lena commented. Sam side eyed her, finally relaxing from the stiff position he had been holding. “What about you, Cap?”

“What about me?” Steve asked, smiling at her.

“New shield? Suit upgrades?” she gasped excitedly “We can make you fly!”

“I’m okay on the ground,” he winced, cautioning her.

“Why? Like, everyone on the team flies but you,” Lena mentioned, taking a moment to study his form.

“Not everyone. Wanda doesn’t fly,” Steve pointed out.

“She probably could, though,” Sam mentioned.

“Banner. That would probably be disastrous if he could fly. Nat doesn’t fly, either. Or Bucky,” Steve listed. Lena glanced at Bucky at the mention of his name. He smiled a little when he noticed her looking, and she looked away quickly. There was that feeling, again. Eerie. Uncertain.

“ _Awww_ , man,” Sam commented, laughing to himself. Lena’s eyes threw daggers in his direction at the very idea of what he was hinting at. It wasn’t that. Steve, too, didn’t seem to like the suggestion, his hand nudging Sam to stop. “What?”

“Leave it alone,” Steve murmured, his eyes meeting Sam’s. They stared at each other for a while, seeming to have a conversation with their eyes. “We talked about this.”

“It’s just a little joke,” Sam commented. Steve lifted his brows, and Sam sighed. “I won’t say anything.”

“Good. Thank you, Sam,” Steve said, his voice soft. Lena sighed, annoyed to be being discussed, right in front of her, as if she couldn’t understand.

“You and Sam think that Bucky and I might find each other attractive, which you think is a problem because that man killed Tony’s parents, and Tony doesn’t quite trust him, which is to say he’d never approve, which is a problem for you, because you feel that you just got back on his good side, and you don’t want to ruin it by having your parent-killing best friend date his one and only daughter,” Lena said matter-of-factly, unimpressed by Steve’s discretion. He looked a little embarrassed, his blue eyes wide as he stared at her, but after a while, he nodded.

“That… pretty much sums it up, yes,” Steve replied apologetically.

“I think it’s really… endearing… that you don’t want to upset my father, and that you, I assume, think you’re protecting me from… I dunno, some sort of familial consequences, Cap, but… I’m a big girl. I’ll be okay, either way, and honestly, it’s not Tony’s decision, nor is it yours or Sam’s, who I date and who I’m allowed to be attracted to. Further, I’m an adult- the cute little ‘facial expressions and minced words’ conversation you two just had? Fully understood everything.”

“I’m sorry if I upset you, Lena. You have to understand where I’m coming from. It isn’t that your father should make dating decisions for you, but-” Steve started, Sam grasping his arm to stop him. They looked at each other again. “I’m sorry. You’re right, it’s your decision.”

“There’s no decision. That’s just it,” Lena said, her eyes glancing at Bucky again. He looked a little let down, so Lena gave him an apologetic smile.

“It was probably more for me than you,” Bucky commented, smiling back at her. His response sort of threw her for a loop, and that feeling returned. _Whiplash_. A confession. He was interested. _He was interested?_

“Oh,” was all Lena could get out in response.

“I just think Tony would…” Steve started.

“He’d blow everything up,” Sam chuckled.

“It’d be World War III,” Bucky joked. Lena smiled a little, trying her hardest not to look at the beautiful smile on _that man’s_ face.

“Yeah, he’d probably banish me to a lab for the foreseeable future,” Lena muttered.

“He’d probably put me back in the freezer,” Bucky joked.

 

 

_“In the aftermath of the attack on planet Earth by an alien being known as Thanos, New York City is still in the recovery process. Not even a decade since the Battle of New York, the city’s residents found themselves once again crippled by the activities of beings not of this world. Chaos rattled the city as people crumbled to dust in an instant, leaving some to ask if this was a sign of the End Times.”_

_“I was like, damn, yo. I’m sittin’ on my stoop watchin’ my kid play with some of the kids in the neighborhood, and she just, like… she disappeared in front of my eyes. Then I looked, and like everyone on the block was disappearin’. I thought it was the apocalypse. Like, God was callin’ people home, or somethin’.”_

_“Other residents felt there was a more physical explanation.”_

_“It’s the fault of the f***in’ Avengers. Ever since them Avengers started flyin’ around, New York ain’t been nothin’ but chaos. I saw Iron Man with my own two eyes fly up there when that ship came. They want us to believe they save us, but do you know anyone who has been saved by the Avengers? I don’t. But I know a bunch of families who been affected by their mayhem…”_

_“Relief efforts have already been in effect for the better part of a year, but with billions of dollars in damage, the city may not be returned to normal for quite some time. For New York One, I’m Amy Farrell.”_

 

Namor sipped on a bitter cup of black coffee, his silvery, ocean colored eyes staring at the TV in the Brooklyn diner. Atlanteans had long kept hidden from much of the dry world. The land-dwellers were too bent on war and destruction, too hateful towards their own kind. The people of Atlantis knew what would become of their civilization, should the outside world know they exist outside of legend.

Recent events had changed that.

Recent events forced the Atlantean prince to return to the land, where he hadn’t been in years, to investigate what they had done to cause the destruction and death that the Atlanteans had recently faced. The news report on the television claimed that this group, who billed themselves as _Earth’s Mightiest Heroes_ , had done everything in their power to reverse what Thanos had done. But Atlantis had already seen the results of their actions first hand. Namor had watched his beloved Dorma turn to sand, and when the Avengers did whatever it was that was supposed to have defeated Thanos, she had not been restored. Nor had many other Atlanteans.

The people blamed the Royal Family. It was because, they assumed, that the world above knew nothing of their people. Didn’t know about them to care if they were saved.

Namor wanted someone to hold responsible. The anger in his heart was outweighed only by the duty to his people. To Atlantis.

The coffee was warm and strong, and one of the only things he could honestly say he envied that the land dwellers had. It seemed to calm him; focus him. He knew that he needed to find the Avengers and make them offer penance to Atlantis for the troubles they wrought. He needed them to know that Atlantis had her own _Avenging Son_ , and that she would be Avenged.

 

 

“What are you doing?” Lena flicked on a light in the kitchen, catching Peter red handed as he shoveled a spoonful of her cookie dough ice cream into his mouth. He looked at her, his eyes wide and a mouth full of the incriminating ice cream, his hand trying to hide the pint behind his back.

“ _Nomthimg_ ,” Peter mumbled with his mouth full. Lena placed her hands at her hips, giving him a look that could rival any villain the kid had ever faced. He swallowed the ice cream that he held in his mouth, smiling innocently at Lena. “Want some?”

“Yeah, I did. That’s why I bought it,” she retorted.

“Ah, come on. I’m just, like, always hungry,” he pleaded with her.

“So, eat an apple,” she said, stepping towards him, her hand outstretched for the ice cream. He handed her the pint. She looked into it, frowning a little. “Eh… you keep it. Might be radioactive, now,” she handed it back to him. He shrugged, spooning more of the treat into his mouth.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, leaning back against the counter as Lena opened the fridge, looking for something that might quell her ice cream craving.

“What is ‘sleep’?” she chuckled, going for a coconut flavored Greek yogurt.

“That’s Black Widow’s,” Peter pointed out. Lena shrugged at him, opening the yogurt. “So, Mr. Stark says that now that I’m an Avenger and everything I might get to live here full time. How cool is that?”

“What’d your aunt say about it?” Lena asked, grabbing a spoon and stirring the yogurt cup a little.

“Uhmmm…. I haven’t exactly asked her, yet…” Peter said, smiling sheepishly.

“School’s about to start,” Lena pointed out, eating some of the yogurt; which was tasty, but was no cookie dough ice cream. “She’s gonna say no.”

“But… I’m an _Avenger_. Which, I think, veto’s her objection?” Peter rationalized. Lena shook her head, smiling a little. “I can still go to school from here.”

“You’re going to commute to Queens every day from upstate?” she questioned him, illustrating just how ridiculous that sounded.

“... Well… maybe I’ll transfer to a school up here,” Peter frowned a little.

“That’s not a good idea, Pete,” she said. “Look, stay in school. Stay with your Aunt May. She needs you just as much as you need her. You’re still an Avenger, even in Queens.” Peter nodded, realizing she was probably right.

And then _he_ walked in. Bucky Barnes, wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of blue pajama pants with sailboats on them. Lena might have been staring, if she was honest. She still hadn’t gotten used to seeing him look so… normal. And, yeah, maybe there was something aesthetically pleasing about his messy dark hair, and the way the T-shirt contoured around his toned muscles.

_She wasn’t thirsting after Captain America’s friend, though._

“Oh, uh… M-Mister Winter Soldier, sir!” Peter stuttered out when he saw the imposing man.

“Bucky,” he smiled at the kid, walking up to the two of them casually. “I guess we all had the same idea,” he commented, noting the snacks they both were holding.

“Oh… yeah, midnight snacks,” Peter grinned, holding up the container of ice cream. “Cool. You can have some of my ice cream, if you want.” Lena shook her head at Bucky, urging him against it. Bucky chuckled.

“I’m okay. But thanks,” he said, moving to the fridge and opening it.

“I don’t have _radioactive_ _spit_ ,” Peter objected, mostly to Lena.

“We don’t know that,” she shrugged.

“Even if I did, you’d all just get super powers,” Peter grumbled, shoveling ice cream into his mouth. “Not like I’m contagious.” Lena laughed a little. The kid kind of felt like a little brother. She didn’t have any siblings, so it was kind of nice having him around. Bucky took a pack of lunch meat out of the fridge, along with some American cheese and a bottle of mustard.

“So, your webs… they don’t, like, come out of you, do they?” Bucky asked curiously, placing his haul on the counter and carefully pulling off a paper towel, laying it on the counter where he intended to prepare his food.

“No. I make my own webbing,” Peter replied.

“You make it? Or you _make_ it?” Bucky teased, grabbing the pack of bread softly, as if he were worried his vibranium arm would crush it.

“I… created a formula…” Peter explained, confusion on his face. Lena stifled a laugh.

“But, if you’re a spider, why does it come from your wrists? Shouldn’t it come from your butt?” Bucky asked casually, building a sandwich on the paper towel he’d laid out. Lena laughed, glancing at Peter, eager to hear his response.

“Oh, I get it. You’re trolling me,” Peter smiled a little, his face turning red. “That’s cool. I didn’t know you were, like, a regular dude.”

“What kind of… _dude_ did you think I was?” Bucky asked, turning towards Peter and taking a bite out of his sandwich, stoic eyes staring at the kid.

“I dunno. I sorta thought you were the, like … super serious murdery type,” Peter said, fumbling over his words a bit. Lena winced at them, her eyes shifting to Bucky curiously for his reaction.

“Not anymore,” he said softly, giving the kid a reassuring smile. Lena realized he must have been so used to people being afraid of him. She wondered what kind of life that must have been.

“That’s good. _Bucky_ ,” Peter replied, smiling back, though cautiously. Peter had really only met the man once, and even then, it was in combat. They’d both been at the Facility for the last few weeks, but Peter never saw him. Bucky mostly kept to himself, or stuck close to Cap, for fear that his presence might alarm the others, or make them uncomfortable.

“How old are you, kid?” Bucky asked Peter, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Seventeen,” he replied, his chest puffing up as if he couldn’t have been prouder to be seventeen. Bucky nodded.

“Pete was just telling me how he was going to drop out of school to join the Avengers full time,” Lena smirked, glancing at Peter for a reaction.

“Wha- I didn’t say-”

“Why would you wanna do that?” Bucky asked, smiling. “High school is the best.”

“I’m not. I said I wanted to live here, and I could transfer schools,” he pouted. “But, I’m not going to do it, because Lena keeps making me feel guilty.”

“Good choice,” Bucky nodded.

“Also, high school sucks. No offense,” Peter retorted.

“Sucks?” Bucky perked a brow.

“Means it’s not good,” Lena explained. Bucky nodded.

“Ohh…” he muttered, glancing at her.

“Bucky’s not up on the lingo, Pete, so… like, regular English,” Lena informed him.

“Oh, I forgot you’re, like, super old,” Peter commented. Bucky gave him a look. “I mean, not super old, but…”

“No, you’re right, I’m pretty damn old,” Bucky smiled. Lena chuckled. “I am, I like … a hundred, or something. I don’t even know, anymore.”

“You don’t look a day over 30,” Lena chuckled, which… maybe sounded more like flirting than she intended. Bucky actually blushed a little, smiling to himself as he took a bite of his sandwich. Peter eyed the two of them suspiciously, pointing his spoon at Lena.

“Wait…” he said, eyeing her. “You two like… _like_ each other?”

“Peter,” Lena scolded him firmly. He held up his hand innocently.

“I’m just saying. I can leave, if you want,” he teased.

“Could you?” Bucky chimed in, his tone playful. “Not to be rude, but… I’ve kinda been hoping you’d leave the whole time.”

“Noted. I was never here,” Peter retorted, smiling at them. “I’ll just… be in my room, if you need me. _Listening_. To _everything_ you’re doing.”

“Pete,” Lena scoffed.

“So, like… don’t do anything bad,” he teased, backing away from them.

“Oh my God, I’m gonna kill you,” Lena fought against her urge to smile, watching as the spiderling dashed away, laughing like the dumb kid he was. She chuckled to herself as he left, but her curious eyes shifted to Bucky, who was sort of staring at her. He smiled when her eyes met his, and she smiled, too, her eyes suddenly finding interest in the cup of yogurt she’d half-eaten.

“So…,” Bucky smirked. “You like… _like_ me?” he asked, imitating Peter. Lena chuckled a little.

“I didn’t say that,” she replied.

“Everyone else seems to think so,” Bucky commented.

“Well. That’s… interesting. I can’t imagine why,” she deflected, spooning some yogurt into her mouth.

“Maybe it’s the way you blush every time you look at me,” he said coolly.

“I don’t blush. I just… sometimes can’t figure you out,” she said, glancing at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno. You’re just kind of… mysterious,” she replied softly.

“Not that mysterious. I mean, what do you wanna know about me? I’m an open book,” he said, placing his half-eaten sandwich on the counter behind him.

“Is that true, though?” she asked, eyeing him.

“For the most part,” he said, his flesh hand touching his shoulder where the metal arm connected.

“What if I asked you about that night… when you killed Howard and Maria Stark?” she asked, the question lingering in the air for a moment. Bucky’s eyes dropped, and he seemed a little embarrassed by the question, but he let out a sigh.

“I guess I’d have to tell you about it,” he said softly.

“... Did you know them? When you were killing them?” she asked, the question pouring out of her before she could think to hold it back. He shook his head.

“I didn’t know anybody. They… would erase me, any time I… remembered something from before,” he said. As if the words were thick and heavy and were a battle to get out. Lena nodded a little, her eyes downcast. She let out a long sigh. It was strange, still. Talking to the man who killed the grandparents she never knew. Talking to him and not hating him for it. “... But… when the memories came back, I knew them. I knew what I’d done.”

“That must have been horrible to live with,” she said apologetically, her eyes shifting towards him. He glanced at her, shame in his eyes, and nodded a little.

“He called me by name. He said ‘Sergeant Barnes.’ … Sometimes I hear it when I try to sleep at night,” Bucky recalled, his blue eyes shifting away from her.

“It wasn’t you, you know. It was Hydra. Nobody blames you,” she said reassuringly.

“But… it was me. Physically. I gotta live with that,” he commented.

“... You were a POW,” she added. He looked at her, and their eyes met again. There was an intensity in his eyes that she couldn’t help but fall into. It was like he was brand new, seeing the world for the first time, yet the horrors of his past still haunted him. It was like he didn’t yet even trust himself, but wanted to.

“Do you really believe that, or are you just trying to make me feel better?” he asked her quietly.

“What stake do I have in making you feel better?” she said playfully, hoping to fix the grim mood she’d caused. He smiled a little, and she couldn’t help but to smile with him.

“Well, there’s the little thing of you liking me,” he pushed. Lena could feel herself blushing. She busied herself with fluffing her curly afro, her eyes sliding away from his.

“I think maybe you’re projecting a little,” she commented.

“Maybe,” he said softly.

“Bucky Barnes, do you have a death wish?” she asked, glancing at him. He chuckled. “No, seriously… I mean, you realize my name is Lena Stark, right?”

“I know who you are,” he smiled softly, his eyes bright and full of playfulness, which was fucking endearing as fuck.

“... Even if I was interested, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said, gazing at him.

“Thinking has very little to do with it,” he said.

“See… you’re barking up the wrong tree, because I literally overthink everything. I mean, you realize I have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, right?”

“You have a Ph.D?” he asked, genuinely surprised. She smiled.

“Please. I wasn’t gonna let Tony be the only doctor in the family. I’d never live it down,” she joked.

“So… does having a Ph.D. mean you don’t have feelings? Because… I was actually a killing machine for like 70 years, and…” he chuckled, and she smiled, her eyes dropping. “I mean, you can’t say you don’t feel anything, here.”

“We don’t even know each other, Buck,” she said softly, afraid to even look at him.

“Then, let’s get to know each other. That’s… what dating is for, right?” he replied, uncertainty in his voice. She dared to look at him, and their eyes met timidly, and she felt herself holding her breath.

“It’s… not like we could do any real dating…” she mentioned. He nodded.

“So… we could just agree to meet. When nobody is around, just like this,” he said.

“And do what?” she asked nervously, wondering if she was really agreeing to this. She worried about her father. Not just because of this, but in general. Tony, for all his jovial and cool demeanor, was a man filled with emotion and trauma. They all joked about Tony flipping his lid if she and Bucky were to… but Lena wasn’t sure that it wouldn’t actually hurt the man. She wasn’t sure if he’d be okay. And she needed him to be.

“We could just talk. Like this… I like talking to you,” Bucky said, his lips curling into a gentle smile. He was incredibly cute, if she were honest. There was something kind of boyish and innocent about his face; something sweet and charming that she just wanted to nurture. She couldn’t see any Winter Soldier or even a White Wolf, when she looked at him. Just a young man whose youth was stolen from him, who desperately needed to find himself again. And, yeah, maybe her heart did flips when she saw him, because maybe she felt exactly the same way he did. And maybe it bothered her that it didn’t make logical sense. She’d never been the type of girl to swoon over cute guys. Sure, she’d had boyfriends in the past, but she had always been so into science and school and building things that boyfriends just seemed kind of trivial. She normally didn’t even want to entertain the idea, even when she saw a man who she considered attractive. It did not make logical sense for her to find interest in Bucky Barnes beyond helping him transition into his restored life. But she was interested. And she did want to get to know him. She did want to date him- or whatever it could be called, in their case.

“Okay,” she muttered out in response, fighting against the smile that, goddamn it, she couldn’t fucking help, around him.

“Okay,” he smiled, and they both let out childish, bashful laughs. This could be good. This felt nice. She was learning that Bucky Barnes was a person… And despite his past, she really liked the person that he was.


	4. Sub Mariner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Namor won't rest until the Avengers pay penance for Atlantis' suffering. 
> 
> Pepper worries that Lena's work has become unhealthy obsession, and Tony and Steve discover that a mysterious being from a mythological place is calling them out.
> 
> Meanwhile, Lena finds solace in Bucky.

New York City was a mess of buildings and cars, people rushing about, yelling, honking car horns at each other. Loud and _alive_. Somehow, Namor felt dwarfed by it all. In Atlantis, society functioned in a much more harmonious way. The surface-dwellers seemed almost to hate each other. Namor’s curse was to look so much like them. The Atlanteans, blue-skinned and mer-like with pointed ears and gills, had never fully accepted the tan skin he’d inherited from his father; a man he’d never himself met. Even still, they revered him as their prince, and he felt more harmony there than this small island of selfish and bitter people could ever offer.

People stared at him, his glistening, princely uniform standing out among the mundane fashions of the surface-dwellers. But no one commented, or even seemed to care, much, as he walked down a city street towards the Avengers Tower. Intelligence had informed the prince that the tower, right in the middle of Manhattan, was where the Avengers convened. Where they lived when they weren’t saving the world. _Saving_. Namor wondered if they even felt remorse for the consequences of their _“saving.”_ How they picked who was _worth_ saving.

Their city was filled with trouble. People being shot and stabbed and raped. Thieves stealing from the innocent, and from each other. Starvation, homelessness and poverty. The Avengers hadn’t saved any of them. The Avengers didn’t seem to care about saving anyone unless it could give them publicity. 

The tower was tall and oddly shaped, and Namor knew it immediately from the renderings he’d seen of it. He stood across the street from it, watching as a teenage girl handed her cell phone to a guy and posed in front of it. It was like a Mecca, to these people. They actually seemed to worship these false gods, who they'd deemed the mightiest of their planet. _Namor's planet._  

“Hey, bro!” a man tapped Namor on the shoulder. He looked at the guy, his glistening, ocean-colored eyes cutting sharply at the audacity of being touched. The man was tall and broad, all muscles and spiked hair. He wore a tight shirt with the logo for one of those Avengers that Namor had seen on that news report. A circle, red and blue with a star in the center. “Damn, cool costume. Which one are you supposed to be?”

“Which one?” Namor responded, lifting a brow. A young lady, blonde and dressed in a tight black bodysuit, grinned brightly, chewing what seemed to be gum rather aggressively. She was petite and curvy, and seemed to cling to the guy as if she’d blow away if she didn’t.

“Duh. He’s that Doctor Strange guy,” the girl commented.

“He doesn’t have the goatee. And Doctor Strange doesn’t have the ears,” the guy corrected the girl.

“I am not one of these Avengers,” Namor replied starkly, staring at the people as if they were insane. The man shrugged.

“Whatever, man. Can you take a picture of me and my girl in front of the tower?” the man said, handing his smart phone to Namor before he could agree. Namor started to object, but the couple had already started towards the tower across the street. “Just hit the circle!” the dude called to him. Namor stared at them for a moment, dumbfounded. Then he held up the smart phone, looking at the couple through the screen. He snapped one picture for them, fascinated by the device. Atlantis had devices for capturing images that had been developed centuries ago, but it was interesting to see how far surface-dwellers had come with their own tech.

The couple ran across the street to retrieve the phone, and they thanked Namor before heading back towards the building. Namor didn’t quite understand it. The Avengers, it seemed, had caused destruction in the lives of many, yet here at this building were crowds of people who all seemed to _love_ them.

Namor pressed forward towards the building, entering with a small group of people all dressed in shirts and clothing that reflected their love of the Avengers. He stopped to look around, once inside. It was vast and ornate, covered in Avengers insignia and merchandise; a sight which gave Namor pause. There, at the front of the building, was an island desk with two merchants behind it, both dressed in blue uniforms with the Avengers “A” on the chest. Namor watched people go to the desk, show passes or buy passes, and then enter into the building. After a moment, he approached the desk.

“Hi! Just one?” the woman behind the desk asked him, typing something into some sort of computer embedded into the desk.

“What is this place?” Namor asked her, confusion in his voice.

“The Official Avengers Museum, sir,” the young woman replied, just as confused as he had been.

“I need to speak with the Avengers,” Namor pushed. 

“Umm… they aren’t here,” she smiled apologetically.

“This is an urgent matter, miss,” Namor confided, leaning closer to her. “I assure you, I mean them no harm,” he said. Though, he wasn’t sure if he were being honest. Maybe he did mean them harm, if that’s what it would take. 

“I’m … sorry, but… they _really_ aren’t here. They don’t operate from here, anymore. They haven’t for a few years,” the young lady replied. Namor stared in disbelief at the girl, his hands digging into the desk between them.

“You’re being _dishonest_ ,” he replied.

“I am not,” she replied nervously. “This is the Avengers Museum. They’re not actually here.”

“This is the Avengers Tower!” he insisted, anger flickering in his silvery eyes. The girl gasped, her body jerking away from him in fear. She quietly pressed the silent alarm, her eyes wide, staring into Namor’s strange eyes.

“Sir. You need to calm down,” the young lady said as calmly as she could.

“Bring me THE AVENGERS!” Namor yelled, his hands crushing the desk where they had planted into it. The girl backed away, and so did the other employee behind the desk.

“Wh-what are you?” she asked nervously, fear in her eyes. 

“I am Namor the Sub-Mariner, Prince of Atlantis,” he growled. “Half of my people are dead because of the Avengers. I will not rest until they have paid penance for the heartache they have wrought!” Namor could see, from the corner of his eyes, the security personnel running towards him.

“Help!” the girl screamed as they arrived. _Guns_. Pointed at him. Surface-dwellers always used guns. Namor glared at the security officers, stepping away from the desk slowly and turning towards them.

“Don’t move,” one of the guards instructed him. He froze where he stood, his eyes glaring at the men. “What the- what is this _thing_?” the guard asked the other guard after getting a look at his glistening, inhuman eyes.

“I dunno. Don’t make _it_ mad,” the other guard said, his voice low as if Namor couldn’t hear. Namor trained his ears for water. If these uncultured fools shot him, he’d need to find water, fast. 

“What am I?” Namor smirked darkly. “Part of me is what you are. _Ordinary_. Human.”

“I said don’t move, freak!” the guard yelled at him.

“I have not moved,” Namor scoffed.

“We are going to slowly apprehend you and escort you out, now,” the man announced to him, speaking to him slowly as if he wouldn’t understand the words. 

“You will not touch me,” Namor growled. The guards seemed to cower a little at the inflection in his voice, so Namor softened his speech. “I mean you gentlemen no harm. I have no quarrel with you.”

“You damaged property. We’re going to have to ask you to leave,” the other guard spoke up, his eyes wide with fear. 

“I will not leave here until someone tells me where I can find the Avengers,” Namor announced.

“Alright, on your knees, buddy!” the first guard yelled, trying his best to sound threatening. When Namor didn’t move, the guard approached him, shaking his gun at the prince. “I said get down! Now!” Annoyed, Namor marched towards the guard, his oceanic eyes focused on the man. The guard fired off two shots, which hit Namor in the shoulder. He grunted as the hot bullets burred into his flesh, but glared at the guard, taking the gun from him effortlessly. The guard’s eyes widened in fear, and he backed away from Namor. “Sh-shoot it!” he implored the other guard. The other guard hesitated, and before he could pull the trigger, Namor was in front of him, removing his gun and striking him with it hard enough to knock the poor guard out.

Namor emptied the chambers on both guns before throwing them to the ground. He checked the wounds on his shoulders, staring at the red blood on his hand before glaring at the guard, who stood now as far away from Namor as he could seem to get in those few moments.

“I said I meant you no harm. Why would you do this?” Namor asked incredulously, holding up his bloody hand. The guard, fear in his eyes, shook his head apologetically, though Namor couldn’t tell if he was just scared or truly apologetic. Namor didn’t understand surface-dwellers at all.

“The police are on their way,” the girl behind the desk announced. Namor glanced at her, wincing in pain. _The police_. Namor wasn’t so far removed from the world above that he didn’t understand what that meant. It mean _trouble_. Probably more shooting. _More bullets_. He groaned to himself as he held his bloody shoulder, and he rushed out of the front doors, pushing past gawking Avengers worshippers as he did. 

Outside, he found himself surrounded by them, each one holding up a smart phone, recording him. He was stuck. He was _bleeding_. He needed water. He’d been away from it longer than he liked. Namor stood in the middle of a fearful crowd, each side gasping as he turned to them, and he let out a yell in anguish. 

_ “It’s bleeding,” _

_ “What is it?” _

_ “Fuckin’ aliens,”  _

“You are, all of you, _animals!_ ” he yelled at the crowd. A hush fell over them. He peered out at them, anger in his glistening eyes. “I am Namor, Prince of Atlantis. I will find your Avengers and make them pay penance for what their carelessness has cost my people. I am not an ‘it’. _I am one of you_!” Murmurs came from the crowd surrounding him. People looked at each other, dumbfounded. He didn’t look like them. He didn’t look like the Atlanteans and he didn’t look like the humans. His ears, pointed like an Atlantean. Gills behind his ears. His skin, tan and fleshy like a human. He was both of them and neither. But here, he was different enough to be _feared_. It was moments before he heard the sirens, moments before he knew the police would be there. The people stared at him, kept their distance. None offered to help. 

Namor’s shoulder was already beginning to heal, which was bad. He needed to get the bullets out, and he needed to get to water, to heal properly. It was Manhattan, and he was surrounded by water, but he needed to get away, first. It had been a while since he’d done it, a while since he’d spent more an a few hours on dry land, but it was his only chance. He’d have to fly. The injured shoulder made concentrating on flight a little harder, but just as the police cars began to arrive, Namor looked to the sky. And he lifted off the ground, to the astonishment of the people in the crowd. And when he was high enough that they couldn’t harm him any further, he let out a yell, full on anguish and pain and anger. 

He hated coming to the surface. He _hated_ the inhumane surface-dwellers. _And he hated the Avengers even more for how revered they were in the world above._

 

“Lena,” Pepper called from the door to Lena’s lab, knocking on the door frame with a smile on her face. Lena glanced back from her work station, a 3D mockup of Falcon’s new wings in the center of the room while she physically constructed a prototype. 

“Hey, Pepper!” she smiled at her bonus mom before turning back to her work, using a heat gun to form some metal around the skeleton.

“What are you working on?” Pepper asked, approaching Lena’s workstation eagerly.

“Hot. Goggles,” Lena said quickly. Pepper retrieved goggles from the lab closet, and grabbed a lab coat just in case. 

“Are those for Sam?” Pepper asked, smiling.

“Yep,” Lena said softly, lost in her concentration.

“... That’s great,”

“Hm?”

“Lena,” Pepper called to her. Lena stopped, glancing back at Pepper.

“What is it, Pep?” she asked, putting down the heat gun and taking off her big protective gloves. Pepper gave her a gentle smile. “Wha- did I do something?”

“No, no. I just… you haven’t really come up for air, since… well, since Thanos,” Pepper said softly.

“God…” Lena rolled her eyes, ready to ignore this conversation. _Ready to never have it._

“I’m serious. It seems like you’ve been working non-stop for weeks,” Pepper pointed out, finally approaching Lena. “Everyone else is taking a nice break.”

“Pep, the Avengers don’t get a break,” Lena pointed out.

“Maybe not, but you sure need one,” Pepper said sternly.

“I don’t. Thanks,” Lena said sharply.

“I want you to answer me honestly. Do… you think that, maybe, if you fix everybody, nothing bad will happen to them, again?” Pepper asked, dropping the bomb as gently as she could.

“Oh, God, Pepper, please-” Lena started.

“I’m serious. I want you to think about why you’ve thrown yourself into upgrading the Avengers so hard,” she offered.

“Somebody has to!” Lena yelled.

“Listen, I know what you’re going through. Tony’s the same way. When something seems like it’s going to defeat him, he has to try to find a way to fix it. Even if he’s sacrificing his own life, his own personal life, in the process. But, I don’t want that for you, Lena. I want you to have a life outside of this,” she said, analyzing Lena.

“I watched you turn to dust, Pepper. You were gone. My dad, gone. Everyone I knew and loved. Do you know how I felt when Cap and everyone came back here, when Rhodey did, and my dad was nowhere to be found? Do you know how long it took me and Shuri to find him?” Lena yelled, glaring at Pepper.

“I can’t imagine what that was like for you,” Pepper commented. “... And, I know that what happened to us was scary, for you. But… that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid that you’re taking on this burden all by yourself because you feel that you somehow failed us. That you think it’s your duty to make sure something like Thanos never happens to us again. But, Lena, it’s not your duty. You’re young. You’re only in your 20s, honey, and I just want you to know that your life doesn’t have to center around the Avengers-”

“Yeah, but if I have something to offer, Pepper, and I can make even a tiny difference-”

“You are not Tony Stark, Lena!” Pepper yelled. “You do not have to live as though you are an extension of him! You don’t have to follow in his footsteps! Is this what you wanted for yourself? To… be an Avenger? To be a superhero? Don’t you have dreams? Don’t you want a life?”

“This is my dream, Pepper. This is my life,” Lena argued, her voice cracking a bit. “Why are you saying this to me? You don’t think I’m as good as he is?”

“I think you’re a better person than he could have ever hoped to be. He thinks so, too,” she replied gently. “He’s very proud of you, and he’ll be proud of you no matter what you do. But you … _cannot_ sit around here, wasting your life away in some lab, worrying whether _these people_ live or die. That isn’t why you’re here. That isn’t your job.”

“You’re telling me not to care about them because they’re _superheroes_?” Lena scoffed, tears dancing in her eyes.

“I’m saying… I’m saying that the people in their lives suffer because of the responsibility they’ve taken on. I’m saying I don’t want _you_ to make these sacrifices. You’re a beautiful girl, but I never see you date. You don’t go out with friends. Do you even have friends that aren’t associated with the Avengers? When’s the last time you went to a club or a bar? To the movies?”

“I have friends,” Lena argued, her arms crossing as tears rolled down her face.

“I’m not trying to upset you, honey,” Pepper cooed, moving to pull Lena into a hug. “I just… I don’t think this is healthy. You don’t sleep. You barely eat, anymore.” Lena pushed her away.

“Don’t touch me. And don’t call me honey,” she spat, quickly wiping the tears from her face as she turned back to her workstation.

“Excuse me, young lady?” Pepper scoffed, her hands at her hips.

“Don’t fucking ‘young lady’ me. I’m not your daughter, Pepper. And I’m not a child. I am old enough to make my own decisions, and I don’t want your opinion on my life,” Lena spat angrily, glaring at Pepper.

“I’m not trying to take your mother’s place, but Lena, you will always be like a daughter to me. And you can’t keep me from trying to protect you,” Pepper said sharply.

“I don’t want your protection,” Lena yelled. “GOD, why is everyone trying to protect me?”

“I don’t know who ‘everybody’ is, but I’m protecting you from yourself. Because nobody else will tell you that you’re going into dangerous territory, here. When is the last time you left this facility? You don’t even go home-”

“BECAUSE I WANT TO BE WITH MY FAMILY! WE ALL DO!” Lena yelled, her eyes filled with anger. “You know what, get the fuck out of my lab, Pepper.” Pepper just looked at her, tears dancing in her eyes.

“You hate being cooped up in a lab, Lena,” Pepper pointed out. “I’m just saying.” The woman turned to walk out of the door. Lena listened as the door slammed, and she broke down, sobs pouring out of her. Pepper’s words swirled around in her mind, and confusion, anger, and hurt filled her. Maybe she was just trying to keep them all from being hurt, again. Maybe she was wasting her life. 

After she finally stopped sobbing, Lena wiped her face, and she tore off the lab coat and rubber apron she wore, throwing them to the ground.

“Friday?” she called to the AI. “Lock up the lab, and close out of the Falcon project,” she said, rushing out of the lab as fast as her feet could carry her.

Lena ran.

She ran out of the facility and she ran into the field surrounding it, letting out a scream when she got far enough away. It was seconds before someone was trying to contact her on coms to see what the disturbance was. She just wanted to get away from them, and they were still contacting her.

“I’m fine,” she responded. “Getting some air,” she said, turning off the coms and throwing the communication disk to the ground. Then, from the heart-shaped necklace around her neck, her suit emerged, covering her entire body and face with nano tech. Once the suit was on, she flew into the sky, straight up until the facility looked like a toy beneath her, and then she flew into the distance. She just had to get away. She needed to get away to think.

 

It was hours later. And nearly pitch black outside.

Lena landed in the grass on the acres of land that surrounded the Avengers building. She’d flown around until she found a small town to land in, taking a stroll around the town, getting ice cream in a tiny shop and watching children argue about which Avenger was their favorite. It warmed her heart when a little girl said Ironheart. (Though the little boy with her, maybe her brother, purported that Ironheart wasn’t an Avenger at all.) It really was what she loved doing. She liked helping people. She couldn’t think of any better use for her skills, and rather than sitting in some lab working to create the next iPhone or whatever, as an Avenger, she could use her skills to help save the world from beings like Thanos. It felt _good_.

But Pepper had been right about many things. She was wasting her youth, too afraid to fail, not having fun. She’d spent every year prior to this one in school, getting degree after degree (sometimes at the same time), and fighting part time with the Avengers. Dating always seemed so trivial, but it was honestly a normal and natural part of being a human. Most people her age had loved and lost multiple times. Lena could maybe count her romances on one hand. Or… _maybe even one finger._ (There had been a couple that she wasn’t sure counted.) And she did have other dreams. She wanted to travel. _Really_ travel, not just fly into a foreign country to stop some hostile from blowing up a city. And, as corny as it felt to her, she wanted a family. She wanted children, and a marriage, and all of that corny shit she saw in movies. The corny shit she saw other people her age doing. 

Standing in the grass, yards away from the building she’d spent the past year in, trying to figure out a way to help the team beat Thanos, it sort of looked like a fancy prison. One she wasn’t ready to return to. The suit disappeared back into her necklace, and the T-shirt and jeans she wore underneath it were left, and she stared at the building, wondering if she had spent the last six years chasing after Tony’s legacy and nothing more.

She sighed, sitting in the grass and fiddling with the kimoyo beads on her wrist. Absently, she pulled up a map of the sky, looking up to see if she could match the constellations in the sky to the ones on the map. Then she saw a figure approaching in the distance.

She could vaguely make out the silhouette of a man, tall, muscular… Lena formed a blaster around her hand, her eyes studying the man as he got closer to her. He seemed to wave in the dark, and she looked closer. She could make out his hair, shoulder-length and dark, and there was a slight gleam from the metal of his arm. Bucky. She let out a breath when she realized it was him, and unformed the blaster, the nanoparticles travelling up her arm and returning to her necklace. 

“You scared me,” she called to him. There was a smile on his face as she could finally see him in the dim light coming off of the facility. Then he was in front of her, and he sat casually next to her, as if he didn’t find it odd at all that she had been sitting in the grass.

“You scared everyone else,” he said. “They’ve been looking for you for hours. You turned off your coms.”

“I just needed some space,” she said, fiddling with the kimoyo beads on her wrist. 

“Yeah, I figured it was something like that,” he said.

“I guess I should tell everyone I’m fine,” she grumbled. Bucky just nodded in response. “I’m just not ready to go inside, yet.”

“You don’t have to,” Bucky said. They were silent, for a moment. “Peter covered for you.”

“He did? What a _bro_ ,” Lena laughed. “What did he say?”

“He said there was a Janelle Monae concert in the city,” Bucky chuckled. 

“Definitely a good excuse to disappear,” she nodded, smiling a little bit.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at her with concern in his blue eyes. Lena felt bad for making him worry. For making any of them worry. 

“Pepper said some things that…” Lena started, deciding not to tell him everything. “Anyway, I got kinda upset, and just… needed to clear my head.”

“By flying off in your metal suit?” he pushed. She glanced at him, her hazel eyes studying him.

“Are you going to tell me how I’m being reckless and putting myself in danger? Because if you are, maybe, _don’t_ ,” she scoffed. He shook his head.

“I’m not going to tell you that,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“I just got ice cream. It was no big deal,” she mumbled, picking some grass with her fingers to busy herself.

“ _Yum_. What flavor?” he asked, smiling a little. 

“... Cookie dough,” she chuckled. “Pete ate mine.”

“Favorite?”

“Definitely. What about you?” Lena looked at him, watching the nostalgic smile come over his face.

“There used to be a really nice butter pecan I liked,” he said. “You could get a whole pint for 10 cents. Steve and I used to collect pennies and buy one, split it… I haven’t had it in a while.”

“Maybe I’ll take you with me, next time,” she offered. He smiled a little, but his eyes suggested that he didn’t think that was possible.

“That would be nice,” he said.

“You know, you’re not trapped here,” she said softly. “You can … go wherever you want. You’re a free man.”

“I’m still technically a _war criminal_ ,” he pointed out. “... Can’t really hide with…” his flesh arm touched the vibranium one, again. Lena eyed it. She liked it, admittedly. It was really well made, and suited the structure of his body. It didn’t look bulky or too small, and was well proportioned. Plus it looked really badass. Shuri had outdone herself. Still, Lena could understand how such an appendage could be a problem for him.

“Do you hate having a metal arm?” she asked, which prompted a smile from Bucky. “What?”

“I don’t hate it, no,” he chuckled. “You know, you ask the most straightforward questions I’ve ever heard.”

“I value clarity,” she shrugged, smiling at him. “Would you remove it, if given the chance?”

“I don’t know. It’s … it functions really well. The Hydra one was… basically just a metal arm. But this one- Here, give me your hand,” he said, offering his metal hand to her. She eyed the thing before touching it carefully with her fingertips. He laughed a little, coaxing her hand into his. “I can feel the warmth of your body. The contours of your hand. I can tell how soft your skin is,” he worked his metal fingers between hers, his large hand engulfing her small one. “I can control how hard or soft I touch you… I’m not scared I’ll accidentally hurt you. It’s not like having my real arm back, but it’s pretty damn close.” Lena, watching their hands, let out a shallow breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her eyes shifted up towards him, drowning in his gaze. 

She didn’t register him getting closer until his lips were against hers. 

He kissed her softly, as if he were afraid that she would object, and he almost pulled away when she took her hand away from his, but she used her fingers to guide him closer and she kissed him deeply, hungrily. It had been a while since she’d kissed _anyone_. Her mind wondered how long it had been for him. But she felt his metal arm sliding around her waist, and his receptive tongue slip into her mouth, and she didn’t give a shit if he’d kissed no one or _a hundred people_ since 1947, because all that mattered was their kiss in this moment. 

His arms pulled her body against his, and in their passion, they found themselves falling backwards into the grass, lips and tongues hungrily exploring each other’s mouths. Lena loved the contrast of his flesh hand and the metal one as they explore her body, as they traveled down her back, snaked up her sides, pulled her closer. 

“Your lips taste like ice cream,” he whispered against her lips, and she laughed, rolling him onto his back. She straddled his broad, muscular body, smiling and kissing his pinkish lips.

“You know, there’s something really sweet about you,” she said, brushing fingers through his dark hair, their eyes locked. He was looking at her the way nobody had ever looked at her before. The way she _always wanted someone to look at her_. 

“I’m crazy about you, Lena,” he said softly, and Lena chuckled, because nobody said things like that anymore, but she was _damn glad he did_. 

“I’m _crazy about you, too_ ,” she said, kissing him softly. He smiled against her lips.

“You have grass in your hair,” he said, and Lena laughed.

“So do you, asshole.” He removed some grass from her hair carefully with his flesh hand, and reflexively, she grasped his hand. She usually hated people touching her afro. It was usually an act of unwarranted curiosity, as if she were some sort of exotic pet or something. But he pulled back his hand to show her the blade of grass between his fingers, and they laughed together. And she kissed him again, passionately. His hands rested themselves at the small of her back, as they kissed, slow and deep and so good that Lena sort of wished she could stay in this moment forever. This kiss, on loop, for eternity. And it seemed to last forever, until she felt his hands slide to her hips, adjusting her position on top of him. 

“You okay?” she asked breathlessly. He cleared his throat a little, his eyes hazy with lust, and he nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky. “Let’s go inside.”

“Why?” she asked softly. 

“Because,” he said, fighting a smile. “I don’t know where this is goin’, but if it’s goin’ where I think it is, I don’t wanna do it in a field.” Lena fought against her smirk, but she laughed anyway, pecking his lips.

“Okay. Let’s go inside,” she said, her eyes communicating to him that she was _down_.

  
  


_ “A disturbance at the Avengers Museum in midtown, this afternoon, was captured on amateur video by museum patrons. A strange man who calls himself Namor allegedly attacked a worker at the museum and two security guards before demanding to see the Avengers. Video of the attack shows the security guard fire at the suspect, before the suspect used inhuman speed and strength to disarm both guards. We warn our viewers that this footage may be graphic,” _

 

Tony watched as the guy on the cell phone video the news was showing took two shots to the shoulder before attacking the guards. He sat forward in his seat, his hand sweeping over his goatee. Not another one. _Not this close to Thanos_. 

What disturbed him the most was the second video. The one where this ‘Namor’ vowed to make the Avengers ‘pay penance’ for whatever he perceived they’d done. To make things worse, the guy flew away. _Flew_. Like, no suit, no wings, just _lifted into the air_.

“You saw it,” Tony glanced behind him at the sound of Steve’s voice. He had been sitting in the strategy room, reviewing the news report over and over when Friday brought it to his attention. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“Apparently they’re flying, now,” Tony commented. Steve walked over to where he sat, his eyes fixated on the TV.

“He says he’s the prince of Atlantis,” Steve commented. “Do we know about Atlantis?”

“Guy’s probably a whack job,” Tony dismissed the idea.

“Tony, did you see him? What he can do?” Steve questioned. “We need to find out everything we can about Atlantis. Find out what we might have done to hurt them.”

“Atlantis is a myth,” Tony challenged Steve.

“So was _Thor,_ ” Steve pointed out. Tony stared at him. He wasn’t believing this. He didn’t want to believe any of this.

“This guy’s probably just an Inhuman, and he’s made up some sort of… delusion to explain his abilities,” Tony said.

“What makes you so sure?” Steve questioned him, his eyes maybe wanting to believe Tony’s version. Tony’s version was certainly nicer. 

“I’m not…” Tony admitted. They exchanged a look. “Friday. Pull up everything you can on Atlantis.”

“Atlantis was a fictional continent described by Plato in his Timaeus and Critias dialogues, which was said to have sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean as punishment for their opulence and warring nature,” Friday responded. 

“Warring nature? That doesn’t sound good,” Steve commented.

“Is there any evidence of Atlantis existing?” Tony asked the computer.

“No. Atlantis is believed to purely be an allegory on the hubris of nations,” Friday replied.

“There you have it, Cap. It’s an allegory,” Tony replied, though he wasn’t convinced, after seeing the Namor footage.

“And yet, their _prince_ is terrorizing New York City,” Steve sighed, crossing his arms as he stared at the footage on the screen in front of him. “We should see what he wants.”

“No,” Tony shook his head.

“Why not?” Steve asked. Tony shook his head again, his eyes anxiously watching the screen. “Tony, if he’s asking for us, it’s our responsibility. We can’t let him hurt anyone else.”

“He hasn’t hurt anyone. All he did was knock out a cop and fly away. It’s probably nothing,” Tony rationalized.

“He asked for us by name. He knocked out that guard _because of us_ ,” Steve pointed out.

“I’m not leading these people into a battle with an unknown entity because he said our name on TV, Rogers,” Tony barked, turning off the screen. “He hasn’t done anything, yet. We don’t know anything about him, yet. We wait, and if it’s a serious threat, we _take him out_.”

“We can’t wait until he decides to _destroy_ New York to take action, Tony!” Steve argued.

“Then let me vet the guy, first! Alright? If he’s a hostile, I’ll follow you into battle, Captain. For now, we do not engage,” Tony said, standing to face Steve. They challenged each other, with stern gazes that could convince any lesser man that either of them were right. But they, neither of them, were really certain that they were right. Neither of them knew exactly how they should approach this situation.

“... We should let the team decide. They’ll know whether or not they want to get involved,” Steve offered. Tony squinted at him, but nodded a little.

“Yeah, okay,” he mumbled out. 

“Tony,” Steve said.

“Yeah?”

“It’s going to be fine. Okay? I don’t think he means us harm,” Steve offered. Tony just nodded in response. He wasn’t sure of what to say. He wasn’t sure if he agreed, but he also sort of wanted to. He wanted it to be fine. He wasn’t ready for things to go to shit again…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote more, but I decided to split it into two chapters, because it's a lot. So, after I get home, I'll post the second part to this chapter (or, the 5th chapter). Expect a 6th chapter sooner rather than later! And yes, you WILL get the scene!
> 
> Also, thanks for the kudos! I'm glad you are enjoying this work! I have so many good things planned for it, so ... keep reading, and I hope you enjoy!


	5. Good to Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return..." - eden ahbez

They snuck into the building, her hand holding his metal one as they tiptoed past the common area and towards her room. Luckily, nobody seemed to be around to catch them. The last thing Lena needed was some rumor about the two of them getting back to Tony. 

The facility was quiet, and the hall where Lena’s room was located was dark. Dark and quiet was perfect, Lena thought. She placed her hand on the doorknob, turning to Bucky to kiss him. She felt his hand grasp her waist, and she let go of his metal one to knit a hand into his hair as she savored his kiss.

“Can we go in?” he broke the kiss to ask, his voice soft and low, and they smiled at each other.

“Yeah,” she said, opening the door and backing inside so that her eyes stayed connected with his; _she didn’t want to ever take her eyes off of him_. Once they were inside, door closed and locked, they fell into into each other’s arms, lost in passion, lost in a kiss that sent sparks coursing through Lena’s body. It felt a little like sneaking a boy into her room as a teenager. There was that thrill of the possibility of being caught, and the wonder of the novelty of bringing a someone special into her space, a space she never brought anyone into. This guy, though. He was timid and cautious with her, as if he were afraid that somehow at any moment the Winter Soldier would take over and hurt her. As if he still didn’t trust himself. It was in his kiss, now; soft and passionate, but calculated and careful, his soft lips moving gently against hers, never going anywhere she hadn’t led him, first. She needed him to know that she wanted this. That she wasn’t afraid of him.

She wanted him to know that the prosthetic that he’d used to kill so many times in the past wasn’t a threat, to her. That she wanted every bit of him, even the scarred, ugly parts that he was so afraid of. She brought the metal appendage to her face, letting the vibranium hand caress her cheek, kissing it as Bucky carefully dragged his fingers over the contours of her face and to her lips.

“Can you feel me?” she whispered, and Bucky nodded breathlessly, following her as she led him towards her bed. “What does it feel like?” He trained his metal fingers under her chin, his eyes focused on hers. 

“I don’t know,” he responded, transfixed with her, her hands grabbing handfuls of his T-shirt as she pulled him onto the bed with her. He hovered over her, curious blue eyes gazing down at her as her curly afro fanned around her head against the bed. He stared at her pinkish lips, her round nose, the tint of blue light reflecting on her skin from the glowing necklace that lay against her chest. She was beautiful, all glistening hazel eyes and gentle smiles, and Bucky wondered how he’d been lucky enough for her to choose him. _He didn’t deserve her_. 

“That’s okay,” she said, coaxing the shirt up, and he helped her pull it over his head and tossed it aside. “You have all the time in the world to figure it out.” Her hands slid over his chiseled body, her eyes connecting with his. Lena couldn’t quite figure out what this _feeling_ was, that she felt for him. Here was this beautiful man, slightly broken both mentally and physically, yet to her, he was _perfect_. Beautiful, from his soulful eyes to his broad frame, as imposing as he was gentle. It took kissing him a little while longer for him to even attempt to undress her. She shivered when his hands pushed under her top and worked it off of her, and she helped him get the bothersome thing over her fro, and she bit her lip to stop from smiling as he took a moment to admire her body. His real hand took no shame in touching her skin, tracing her abs and up to her shoulder, where he slid her bra-strap down and left a soft kiss.

She sat up a little to let him remove it, and she helped him unhook the back, deciding that it might be delicate work for his vibranium hand. For a quick moment, she felt a slight apprehension at the thought of him seeing her topless. It had been a while since anyone had, and something in her was worried that it would feel dirty. But he slid the bra off of her, and pecked her lips softly, and his fingers gently explored her breasts, trailing softly over them, gently touching her brown nipples. The softness of his touch took all the worry from her; and the look in his eyes as he touched her, loving rather than lustful, and almost reverent, actually gave her chills.

Then, his fingers touched the glowing heart-shaped necklace at the center of her chest, his eyes glancing down to study it.

“What’s this?” he asked. She grasped his hand.

“Arc reactor,” she replied softly, her voice husky with wanting him. He looked a little confused, so she sucked in a breath to regain some sort of composure, and continued. “It stays on.”

“Yes ma’am,” he smiled a little, leaning down to kiss her. “Is that where the suit comes from?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, pulling him down to kiss him deeper. She didn’t want to talk, anymore. She just wanted him; wanted to feel his body against hers. Her hands slid down his bare back, the feeling of his bare skin against hers awakening a desire in her that she hadn’t even realized was there, before meeting him.

“You’re the single most fascinating woman I’ve ever met,” he whispered against her lips, his hands trailing slowly down her body; she would be lying if she said the vibranium against her skin wasn’t doing it for her. His fingers found their way to the button at the front of her jeans and worked to unbutton them. Lena moved to help him, but he’d gotten them undone, and shifted her body expertly to pull them down. Lena imagined, for a moment, how many times he’d done that, and who with, but her thoughts were interrupted when she felt his warm fingers sliding between her legs. Her legs spread involuntarily, and he gazed into her eyes, smirking to himself as her circled two fingers around her clit.

She inhaled sharply, the pleasure sort of surprising her. Maybe it’s partially because she wasn’t sure what to expect from him. But his warm fingers rubbed circles into her clit until he coaxed a moan out of her, and she covered her mouth a little to stop herself, not wanting anyone to hear. Her eyes stared up at him helplessly, and he held her gaze, his eyes sure and direct, sexy and hypnotizing as he continued those torturous circles, sending jolts of unfair pleasure through her young body. He looked so confident, as if he wanted her to know that his goal was to make her feel good. Her hips lifted involuntarily, and she groaned, low and under her breath, as she fought hard against the desire to moan out his name. She grasped his wrist to stop him, and he pulled his hand away, kissing her lips softly, apologetically. She shook her head; it wasn’t that she wanted him to stop. It was that she didn’t want to cum before she got to feel him. Her hands moved to his jeans, and she unbuttoned and unzipped them, her eyes connecting with his, asking for what she wanted.

And he sat up on his knees, sliding his jeans down slowly, underwear and all, his thick cock emerging, erect. Ready for her. Carefully, he planted his hands at either side of her, hovering over her and kissing her lips softly. His cock teased against her stomach, and instinctively, she curled her slender fingers around it, sliding her hand over it slowly, stroking it, her eyes connected with his. She never wanted to look away from him, again.

He let out a soft moan, and she shushed him, a playful smirk on his face. He chuckled, kissing her, and she stroked him, rubbing and touching his cock, wanting to give him the same pleasure he’d just given her. He let out a soft hissing sound, and his lips crashed into her neck, leaving warm, hungry kisses all over her neck and collarbone, his hips bucking a little into her hand.

“Lena,” he whispered close to her ear. “Do you have a condom?”

“Bottom drawer,” she replied, smiling as she felt him kiss her neck, and his hand coax hers off of his throbbing cock. He sat up a little, taking a moment to eye her body, her nudity, licking lustful lips. Then he kissed her lips, soft and loving, his own lips curling into a smile, and he groaned as he pulled himself off of her and slid off of the bed to retrieve a condom.

Lena took all the gratuitous looks at his gorgeous nude body as she watched him open the drawer, and pull out the string of condoms she had just in case. He smirked, looking back at her, a playfulness in his eyes as he made his way back to the bed.

“Who do you have these for, hm?” he teased, giving her a kiss before spreading her legs, teasing a thumb over her clit.

“Mmm. You, obviously,” she smirked playfully, and he chuckled, pulling one packet off of the strip, and opening the foil.

“You’re gonna have to help me,” he mentioned, taking the thing out of the packet with his flesh hand. Lena sat up, taking it from him and helpfully sliding it onto his erection. As soon as it was on, he grasped her waist, and growled playfully, laying her back as she giggled, and then his lips were against hers, and she wrapped her legs around him as he grinded his cock against her clit. She moaned into his mouth, her hands grasping onto him hungrily, and she whimpered when he sat up for a moment, sliding his hand between them to ease his cock into her.

She gasped as he did, and to her surprise, he entered her easily, sending a jolt of pleasure through her petit frame. 

“Fuck,” she moaned, and he grunted and he pushed in and out slowly, kissing her ear and shushing her a little. “Fuck, Bucky,” she whined, her hands sliding to his waist, her mouth dropping open as she felt him pushing deep strokes into her.

“Lena, shhh,” he grunted, kissing from her ear to her mouth, his tongue teasing against hers to shut her up. But he grunted as he picked up speed, and she moaned into his mouth, and soon, neither of them cared about how loud they were. His strokes were powerful and deep, and _fuck_ , Lena could tell he was a _goddamn supersoldier_ , because she had never been fucked like that before. Her nails dug into his back, and his metal hand gripped her thigh so hard she was sure he’d leave a bruise, but his dick felt so good that she couldn’t be bothered to care.

He was powerful, but he wasn’t rough. Instead, his strokes seemed careful, and aimed at pleasuring her, swift pumps in, slow drags out, his hands holding her thighs in a position so that he could have the best access. With every stroke, she moaned deep, pleasured moans that seemed to come out of her on their own. 

He sat up on his knees, his hands gripping her waist, and he stared down at where they connected, his hips bucking into her, concentration on his face as he held her in place. She moaned, biting down on her bottom lip in a futile attempt to take him silently. He was _big_ , and as good as he felt, he was stretching her, and her mind didn’t know how to make sense of the strange mix of pleasure and pain. She pushed herself up on her elbows, staring up at him as he drilled her. He was holding back, and she could tell. He was holding back because he was afraid to hurt her. _This was him holding back._

“ _Fuck_ , Buck,” she whined, her eyes fluttering closed, and she winded her hips into his strokes. “God, _you’re so big_ ,” she whined, his strokes so deep and hard that her body had begun to tremble.

“You can take it, Lena,” he grunted out, his hands sliding up her torso and lifting her until she was sitting on the dick. She let out a loud cry, her hands gripping his arms and her face burying against his metallic shoulder. “Shh… You okay?” he asked softly. She nodded, and when she did, she felt him resume pumping into her slowly. She let out a shaky breath, her hand sliding up his arm and sliding around her shoulder, their bodies pressed together, her breasts against his muscular form. She kissed his neck softly as he stroked into her, and she winded her hips into his strokes, grasping his long dark hair with her hand. He let out a deep moan, and so she moved herself up and down, her hips winding, her pace matching his.

“You feel so good,” he moaned, his arms wrapping around her, holding her close, and for the first time, Lena knew what making love felt like. Her hand slowly cupped her face, and she turned his face to hers, kissing him lustfully, their tongues meeting in soft, slow circles, long, gentle sucks, and she moaned into his mouth as his cock thrust into her faster, her body tensing from the pleasure. 

It hit her all of a sudden, and she gasped, her body shaking and contracting as her orgasm coursed through her. 

“Ooooh, _Goddd_ , that’s _so good_ ,” she moaned, her hand pushing into his chest as her hips winded into his cock, riding out her orgasm. Then she covered her mouth, biting the backs of her fingers as her trembling body fell against his. He stopped, for a moment, rubbing her back and kissing softly at her neck as he let her recover, knowing she needed a moment. Then, gently, he lay her back on the bed, and he pumped into her, kissing her lips softly as he chased his own orgasm. Her arms wrapped around him, her hand knitting into his hair as he gave her swift, sharp pumps that she almost couldn’t take.

Then he’d reached his climax, and she reveled in the sound of his deep grunts melting into lusty moans, and she felt his cock pumping inside of her, and when he finished, his body stilled atop hers, his breaths shaky and slow. Her hands stroked at his back softly, and he kissed her neck lovingly, and they lay in the breathless moment, neither of them wanting to move. 

Lena wanted to say she loved him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, right in that moment of post-coitous bliss. But she didn’t know if it was true. She didn’t know if it was too fast; if those words would scare him away. Because maybe “love” was too strong. Maybe what she was feeling was infatuation, or _maybe he was just good at sex._

“Did I hurt you?” was the first question he asked after he’d come down a bit, and she let out a soft chuckle.

“No, baby, you didn’t hurt me,” she said softly.

“Okay,” he said, pushing up a little to look at her. His eyes, hazy and filled with something Lena couldn’t quite read, stared at her face for a moment. Then he pecked her lips, and slid his cock out of her slowly. She bit her lip, as he did.

He rolled over onto his back, laying beside her, his blue eyes staring up at the ceiling. They lay in the silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say. Both afraid of saying the wrong thing. 

“You’re beautiful,” he said after a while. Lena lay her head on his shoulder.

“You are, too,”

 

It was morning. Lena awoke to a vibranium arm around her waist, Bucky’s warm body spooning hers, his warm breath against her neck. For a moment, it felt nice to have him beside her. For a moment. Then, the panic set it. What if someone saw him leaving her room? How was she supposed to explain this?

She shifted under his arm, turning to face him. His face looked serious, in his sleep; a stark contrast to the man she’d come to admire. His brows furrowed deeply, and his face frowned, his dark hair falling into his face.

“Bucky…” she whispered, her hand stroking his beard softly. Then she waited a moment to see if he would stir. Her eyes studied him, handsome and rugged, and part of her wanted to let him sleep. But she couldn’t let him sleep in her bed. Not since the sun was up, not while they were both naked. Her fingers stroked his beard gently, scratching lightly at his hair cheek so as not to alarm him. “Buck, wake up, sweetie.”

He stirred a little, humming groggily, his body shifting beside her. Pulling her closer. 

“Bucky,” she said, a little louder than before.

“Hmmwhat?” he grumbled, eyes still closed.

“Wake up. We fell asleep,” she said, her voice hushed. His eyes flickered open, confused blue orbs gazing at her. For a moment, he looked at her as if he’d been awakened by an angel. Then his eyes squinted a little, and he took in a deep breath.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“8:26,” she said, their eyes locking.

“... Shit,” he muttered, sitting up a little. Lena frowned, pulling the covers tight against her breasts as he looked down at her. “Shit… okay, uh… I’ll just get dressed.”

“Mhm,” she nodded. He looked at her, then he leaned down to give her a soft kiss. “Go…”

“Right,” he said, sliding out of the bed and collecting his clothes from the floor, his face blushing a little. He pulled on his jeans, glancing at her nervously, as if he thought she might be angry at him.

“Buck,” she sighed, their eyes connecting. “It was good.”

“No, I know,” he muttered.

“I just…”

“Your dad, I know,” he said, pulling the T-shirt over his head.

“Bucky…”

“I’ll be quiet as I leave,” he assured her, glancing at her.

“ _Bucky_ ,” she said, biting her lip.

“Yeah?”

“... I…” Lena started, her cheeks flushing. They stared at each other, neither sure of what to say. “I’m crazy about you…” she said softly, smiling a little. His eyes fell away from hers, and he smiled softly.

“Yeah, me too,” he said. He hesitated a moment, then he glanced at her. “I want this to work.”

“I do, too,” she said.

“I know. I just…” he started, then he shook his head, his eyes dropping again. 

“... It won’t be like this, forever,” she assured him. He smiled, but he didn’t look like he believed her. “I’m not… ashamed of you, or anything.”

“Lena, I get it,” he said. “I’m a monster.”

“No, you’re not-”

“No, _I am_.” his voice was dark, and matter-of-fact, and the certainty in his voice quieted her. She stared at him, unsure of what to say. She wanted to reassure him. To tell him he was the single most beautiful person she’d ever met, and that she’d never wanted to be with anyone more. But the words wouldn’t come. All she could do is watch as he made his way to her bedroom door. “I’ll see ya later, Lena,” he said, apologies in his tone, and he opened the door, sneaking out of it before she could think to stop him.

When the door closed, she wanted nothing more than to run after him. Tell him she loved him. That if she loved him, there was no way he could be a monster. But she still feared that her father would find out what they’d done, and she knew it would be more than he could take. So she sat there, naked in her bed, with her guilt. There was nothing she could do to make it better. Not really.

 

Bucky rushed down the hallway and stopped as he approached the common area, his eyes scanning the room for signs of any of the others. It didn’t seem like anyone was around, so he pressed forward, determined to get as far away from Lena’s room as possible before anyone caught him. He wanted to respect her wishes. If it were up to him, there would be no secrets about his pursuit of her. His _feelings_ for her. But she had every reason to fear the world knowing who she had spent the night with. To everyone outside these walls, the Winter Soldier was a criminal. A menace that needed to be put down. He wasn’t so sure the attitude was very different even among his new team.

“Buck,” Bucky froze when he heard Steve’s voice from behind him in the common area. He turned around slowly to face his friend, no emotion on his face. He had been trained well how to hide emotion, when he needed to. And he needed to, now. His heart ached over Lena, over wanting to be with her, over feeling like he’d never truly have her.

Steve darted towards him like a man on a mission, and he grasped Bucky’s real arm, pulling him closer, fire in his eyes.

“ _Are you crazy?_ ” Steve fussed in hushed tones, his eyes glaring into Bucky’s.

“What are you talking about, Steve?” Bucky jerked his arm away from the Captain, confusion on his face.

“You were with Lena last night,” Steve accused him.

“What?” Bucky squinted at him, not willing to let on that he was right.

“What do you mean ‘what’? I heard you,” Steve whispered. Bucky just stared at him. Steve, however, seemed sure of what he thought he knew. “Yeah, that’s right. Did you forget my room is just down the hall from hers?”

“What exactly did you _‘hear’_?” Bucky pushed, perking a brow, refusing to be accused.

“ _C’mon_. Don’t make me repeat it,” Steve grumbled, shaking his head. “... I had a meeting with Tony. We were up kinda late. I heard it as I was heading back to my room, afterwards.”

“It wasn’t like that, alright?” Bucky deflected. He didn’t owe Steve anything. 

“Then, what was it _like_?” Steve pushed.

“... Look, I really like the girl. Alright? I can’t help it,” Bucky relented. “It’s not like I was just getting my jollies.”

“ _Ah_ , Buck,” Steve groaned.

“She’s the only person here that sees me, Steve. The only person who has in a long time,” Bucky explained, his eyes serious and direct.

“I see you,” Steve offered sincerely.

“No, not like her,” Bucky said definitively. “... And, I don’t think I could stop seeing her if I tried, so don’t ask me to, Steve.” Steve frowned a little, shaking his head.

“She’s Tony’s daughter-”

“I know whose daughter she is, alright, and I don’t care,”

“She’s _twenty-four_ , Buck. And you’re, what, a hundred and one?” Steve scolded him.

“ _Am I?_ Steve? Did I really live all those years, because I _barely fucking remember them_ ,” Bucky barked, glaring at his old friend. It was unfair. It was unfair that people kept reminding him how long he’d been alive. His life had ended, technically, when he was in his late 20s. He didn’t get the chance to live out a full life; didn’t even get to be Bucky again until a few years prior. He was over 100 chronologically, but it wasn’t fair to call him a true centenarian. “And what about you? How much younger is Sam, hm?” Steve looked taken aback, as if he didn’t think anyone knew about that. His face flushed, and his eyes faltered a bit, and Bucky felt a little bad for calling him out, that way. “I’m sorry… I’m not judging, Steve, I’m really not. He’s a great guy, I get it. I’m just asking for the same respect.”

“It’s different with Sam,” Steve said, his voice low, embarrassed.

“ _How?_ ”

“... He’s not anyone here’s son, for one,”

“Would you love him any less if he were?” Bucky asked gently. Steve glanced at him, his eyes studying him.

“Do you _love_ her?” Steve asked seriously, empathy in his voice. Bucky winced a little, his hand touching his vibranium arm absently.

“I dunno yet…” Bucky muttered out. Steve nodded, as if he’d heard exactly what he needed to hear.

“... I won’t… tell you not to see her. And I’ll keep this from Tony,” Steve said.

“That’s all I ask,” Bucky nodded.

“If you hurt her, _I’ll kill you_ ,” Steve smiled a little. He’d known the girl since she’d shown up at Avengers Tower, young and reckless, asking them to help her take down some secret organization. Flying head-first into the danger, like her father. She was like the team’s little sister, and maybe he was a little too protective of her. She was an adult, many times over, now. And if anyone would be good for Bucky, it was Lena. Bucky smiled a little, letting out a relieved chuckle at Steve’s words. Steve had always been good at understanding him. Even when they disagreed; which used to happen more often than either of them would admit to.

“Never,” Bucky reassured his friend with a smile.

“Good. Now, go get Lena. Tony and I have something to bring to everyone’s attention,” Steve said, switching back into Captain mode like clockwork.

“A mission?” Bucky asked, the thought of another mission tiring him already.

“Maybe. There’s been an attack at the Avengers Museum. A man with powers; calls himself _Namor_. He asked for us by name,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of this written, but decided to give it a second pass. So... hope you all enjoy! My birthday present to myself and you all!


	6. Caprice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Namor meets a kind stranger.
> 
> Lena wonders for the first time how much her life is her own.
> 
> "I think things that I shouldn't. I dream things that I shouldn't. I want things that I shouldn't and it's all because of one thing; I do care about you." - H.M. Ward

  
  


Polluted water wasn’t going to work.

The water surrounding that god-forsaken island they called a city was all polluted, filled with trash and waste that the surface-dwellers thought disappeared if they sent it down river. So, Namor wandered, looking for a source of clean water, the pain from his shoulder clouding his mind as he did. Again, people stared. Again, no one offered to help. 

That night, he crashed in an alley somewhere in Hell’s Kitchen, listening to the loud voices of the rowdy patrons of a nearby pub. He knew that he had been exposed, and he knew that if he’d tried to find any place in the city to stay for the night, there would probably just be a repeat of the Avengers Museum. So, he held his half-healed shoulder, and he rested his head on the brick wall behind him, and closed his eyes, hoping to get some much needed rest. He would find water, tomorrow. _He would find the Avengers, tomorrow._

 

The next morning, he awakened on a couch in a strange apartment, his wound dressed and his body covered in a warm, knit blanket. Blue, like the ocean. His clothes had been removed and he was wearing a pair of flannel pajama bottoms that felt soft against his skin. For a moment, he felt comforted and thankful. But he didn’t know anybody in the city. He didn’t know anybody, and he didn’t know where he was or whose apartment he was in. He sat up quickly, his silvery-blue eyes studying his surroundings cautiously. Kind gestures didn’t always mean well-meaning people. Namor had not met any well-meaning surface-dwellers.

“Careful,” he heard a woman’s voice say. “You were hurt pretty badly. But no worries. I patched you up.” Namor turned to look in the direction of the voice. There was a woman, brownish skin and dark hair, standing just behind him, holding a steaming cup of tea in her hand. He stared at her. Studied her. She didn’t seem to be scared of him, to his surprise.

“Look at me talking to you, like you understand me,” she said, crouching down beside him, her brown eyes studying his strange features. He was handsome, she thought, and looked fairly human, but his eyes… they _glistened_. Not like any eyes she’d seen before. _Like water_. “You some kinda alien?” she asked, smiling a little. When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “You don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?”

“I speak your English,” he replied, his voice hoarse from exhaustion and disuse. She seemed a little surprised.

“Oh,” she said, nodding. “Well, hello. I’m Claire,” she offered.

“I am Namor,” he replied, though he still wasn’t sure this _“Claire”_ could be trusted. She held the mug out to him, offering the tea.

“Here,” she said, noting his confusion at the gesture. “It’s tea. You should drink it. It’ll help.”

“I know what tea is,” he replied; he wasn’t from the surface, but he knew of many of their things. Nonetheless, he took the tea, taking a small sip, his eyes never leaving her.

“So, what planet are you from, Namor?” Claire asked casually, standing up and walking into her kitchen. Namor followed her with his eyes, taking another sip of the tea. It was warm, soothing and delicious. He probably shouldn’t have been taking a drink from a stranger, but she was right, it did help.

“You and I are from the same planet,” he replied. She looked unconvinced, a half smile on her face.

“C’mon,” she chuckled a little. “I saw the gills.”

“So?” he perked a brow, his eyes focused on her.

“So, you’re definitely not human,” she said.

“I am. Half,” he insisted, noting the confusion on her face. “My people are what your people have referred to as mermaids. Or sea monsters. Or various other myths and stories you all have shared. I’m told there’s even a Disney movie-”

“You’re a _mermaid_?” Claire asked, laughing a little, though mostly out of shock.

“ _No_ ,” Namor replied, lifting a brow. “I am the prince of Atlantis.” Claire stared at him for a moment before laughing again.

“Yeah, that makes much more sense,” she said walking over to him. “Well, Prince of Atlantis, it seems you pissed off the wrong people, huh,” she said, running her hand over the bandages she’d covered his wound with. He watched her gentle touch, his strange eyes shifting to look up at her.

“Yes. I was shot,” he commented. “Did you… do this?”

“Found you in an alley,” she nodded. “I thought you were half-dead. So… I brought you up and worked on you. There were two bullets in your shoulder. Took awhile to dig them out, but...”

“Why?” he asked curiously, his dark eyebrows noting his confusion. 

“Believe it or not, you’re not the first weirdo in a costume I’ve found bleeding in an alley in this neighborhood,” she smiled. “And, I’m a nurse. I couldn’t just leave you there. Besides, most of you guys are trying to do good in this city, right?”

“I have no affinity towards your city,” he said, his eyes shifting away, and he took a sip of the warm tea. “I also mean it no harm.”

“I see,” she said, studying him. “You’re not, like… _evil_ , or something, right?”

“Why would you assume I’m evil?” he asked, glancing at her cautiously. He wasn't quite mentally prepared to be attacked again. 

“I’m just checking,” she said, her brown eyes studying him, as if she wasn’t sure, anymore.

“I have only come to this city to find your Avengers,” he said.

“Oh,” she nodded. “That makes sense. You need their help down there, or something?”

“Or _something_ ,” he replied. Claire walked around the couch, sitting down beside him. He shifted his feet to the floor to allow her to sit. Her eyes, though she stared, were the least judgmental eyes he’d met thus far on the surface. She didn’t seem to see him as a monster. An “it”.

“Whatever it is, it must be pretty bad, if you’ve come this far to find them,” she commented. He only nodded. It didn’t seem wise to divulge his reasoning for seeking the Avengers. The surface-dwellers all seemed to love them. “If you don’t mind my asking, how’d you end up getting shot?”

“... I went to the Avengers Tower to find them. But it seems to be a museum, now,” he said, sitting the mug of tea on a small table beside the couch. 

“Oh… you’re that guy from the news,” she said. “They thought you were attacking.”

“I only asked to see the Avengers,” Namor said, before she could decide he was a threat, too. “And then these guards began to shoot at me. You must understand, I don’t always realize my strength-”

“They probably assumed you were an alien, like I did,” Claire offered. “Welcome to America. People are very trigger happy, here.”

“It would seem so, yes,” he said, and Claire chuckled a little. 

“On behalf of humankind, I’m sorry,” she said gently, smiling at him. He nodded a little. She was very kind, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. 

“Claire,” he started, glancing at her. “Do you have something like a tub?”

“... Yeah, why?” she asked, confusion on her face.

“I need to submerge myself in fresh water,” he replied. “My body can restore itself to full strength, if I’m submerged. If I’m away from water for too long, well… it isn’t very good for me,” he explained. Claire’s eyebrows rose, and she let out a long breath, nodding a little.

“Okay,” she said, standing up from the couch. _“Fish man needs to submerge in water to regain full strength, makes perfect sense,”_ she muttered, gesturing towards the bathroom. “C’mon, I’ll show you how to turn on the tub.”

“Thank you,” he sighed, relieved to be in the home of such an accommodating person. He stood, following her into the bathroom. Claire sat down on the side of the tub, turning on the water for him.

“You want it warm?” she asked.

“Anything will do,” he said, immediately pushing down the pants she’d dressed him in as the tub began to fill. Claire’s eyes widened, and she looked away quickly, clearing her throat.

“Whoa,” she protested, holding a hand up to stop him. “I’ll, uh… give you some privacy.”

“I apologize. I thought my nudity would not offend you,” he said as she stood and snuck past his toned, nude body to exit the bathroom. 

“No, it’s cool. Just um…” she chuckled, fighting her smile. “I’ll bring you a towel.”

 

Submerged in the tub, head to toe, Namor could feel his strength restoring. The injury in his shoulder seemed to wash away as soon as he’d hit the water. And the pain and exhaustion that he hadn’t even realized he felt before had begun to fade. He would be himself again, soon. Soon he would be strong enough to resume his search for the Avengers. 

 

 

“Namor,” Tony said to the Avengers that had gathered in the strategy room (the ones that had decided to stay at the Upstate Facility for a while, at least). On a screen in the front of the room, the video of the attack on the Avengers Museum played, showing the strange man disarming and knocking out security guards after taking two shots to the shoulder. “That’s what the guy calls himself. Prince of the lost city of Atlantis, or something, yadda yadda- the point is, this guy came to the Avengers Museum, did a little bit of damage, and left.”

“He took a couple shots to the shoulder and knocked out a security guard,” Steve pointed out. “And he was asking for _us_.”

“The Avengers?” Natasha asked, looking from Steve to Tony, her arms crossed. She was playing it cool, but it was clear that she was concerned.

“What does he want?” Sam asked, looking to Steve, expecting him to expound on the situation. 

“Nothing. Probably,” Tony shrugged.

“We don’t know, yet,” Steve interjected, lifting at brow at Tony. “That why I suggest we send a team into the city to find out.”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘send a team’? We’re gonna go fight this guy?” Bruce asked, clearly uncomfortable with that concept.

“We obviously can’t go fight him if we don’t know what he wants,” Rhodey commented.

“My thoughts exactly. I think we should wait to see what he wants,” Tony suggested.

“But he attacked those guards, Tony,” Natasha pointed out. “Do you want us to wait until he attacks someone else?”

Lena snuck in the door of the strategy room, glancing sheepishly at her father when she did. She smiled at the team as they glanced at her and closed the door behind her, quietly settling against the wall in the back. Her eyes shifted towards Bucky, who, as usual, was lingering near Steve and Sam, and a bit behind them as if not to draw attention to himself. He nodded at her a bit, but looked away quickly. Her eyes, however, lingered on him.

“Nice of you to join us, Lena,” Tony commented to his daughter, ire in his voice. She glanced at him, her cheeks flushing a bit. The night before flashed through her mind.

“Sorry,” she muttered, her eyes dropping a little. It wasn’t like her to be late, or to miss any meeting. She didn’t have any good excuse for it, either. It wasn’t like she could tell her dad she’d spent the night getting railed by possibly the worst person she could’ve chosen, in his eyes.

“Lena,” Wanda whispered to her, smiling as she motioned for Lena to sit next to her at the conference table. Lena smiled, grateful to have a friend, and she quickly moved to sit beside her powerful friend.

“Allow me to talk to him,” Thor offered. “I was new to your planet, once. He is probably simply disoriented.”

_“What’s going on?”_ Lena whispered to Wanda.

_“Some weird guy attacked the museum,”_ Wanda whispered back. Lena scoffed.

_“Ugh. I hate that stupid museum,”_ she commented.

_“I know. It feels like a shrine, right?”_ Wanda replied. They shared a hushed laugh. 

“No. We don’t know who this guy is, what his deal is. We don’t know what his powers are,” Bruce interjected.

“All the more reason for us to send a team into the city to find out,” Vision spoke up from behind Lena and Wanda. Lena smiled at Wanda when he did. It had taken Shuri a while to figure out a way to restore Vision, to bring him back without the mind stone. When she did, Lena couldn’t wait to bring him home, for Wanda. She wasn’t sure she understood it, because she wasn’t quite sure what Vision exactly was, but Wanda loved him. And Lena was happy for her friend. “If we engage him before he hurts anyone else, we may be able to resolve the issue with minimal collateral damage.”

“Vision’s right. We gotta see what this guy wants, Tony,” Sam agreed, his face focused. Sam was a playful, jovial guy, but it always impressed Lena how down to business he became when it was time to be Falcon. 

Then, Lena could feel Bucky’s eyes on her, and her gaze shifted over to him. They stared at each other for a while, and Lena smiled a little, a joyous feeling coming over her as he sort of smiled back. She dropped her eyes and smiled to herself, and Wanda nudged her. She glanced at her friend, biting her lip, realizing she’d been caught.

_“Lena… really?”_ Wanda mouthed to her. Lena shook her head a bit, shushing Wanda. “I didn’t say anything,” Wanda whispered. Lena fought a smile. _“Oh my god…”_

_“Shh… it’s nothing,”_ Lena whispered. She shared a look with Wanda as the Avengers debated, and Wanda squinted her eyes, a curious, knowing smirk on her face.

_“Tell. Me. Everything,”_ Wanda mouthed. Lena glanced at Bucky, who seemed to be watching her. He looked away when he noticed her look at him. 

_“Later,”_ she whispered to Wanda.

“So, I guess it comes down to a vote,” Steve said, his eyes scanning the team members in the room, muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. “Either we send a team into Manhattan to ask him what he wants, or… we do some more reasearch, wait to see what develops before engaging.”

“Could be a trap. That’s all I’m saying,” Tony added. 

“Alright. All in favor of sending a team after him, now,” Steve prompted the group. 

“Aye,” Sam, Vision, and Thor spoke up. 

“All opposed?” Steve asked.

“Nay,” Bruce, Rhodey and Tony spoke up. 

“You know where my vote is,” Steve added. “Natasha?”

“Whatever you guys decide…” she replied reluctantly. 

“We need your vote, Nat,” he pushed her.

“... Then, I say we wait. Sorry, Steve,” she frowned a little, looking away from him.

“Wanda?” Steve asked the young Sokovian. Wanda looked reluctant to answer, but she shook her head.

“I think we stay here. We don’t know enough, yet,” Wanda said. Steve looked like he didn’t like her answer, but he turned to look at Bucky.

“I’m with you, Steve,” Bucky replied with a nod.

“Tie-breaker,” Tony said. “I win. My kid’s the only one left.”

“She didn’t vote with you, yet” Steve pointed out. 

“Well, let her vote, then,” Tony said, looking at his daughter. “Lena?”

“Hm?” Lena stared at him, her eyes wide.

“Come on. Are we going or _waiting_?” he asked her, leading her to answer with him. She glanced at Bucky for a second, who shook his head at her and looked away. 

“... I guess, waiting, I dunno…” Lena mumbled out. She wasn’t sure if that’s actually what she thought they should do. She wasn’t even sure what exactly was happening. She’d been too distracted to properly weigh the pros and cons of each choice.

“You _guess_?” Tony asked her, surprised by her lack of conviction. It was unlike her. She was usually trying her damnedest to run everything.

“So, we’re waiting. I guess that means we’ll need to get started researching everything we can about this guy and where he’s from,” Steve said to the team. “Is everyone okay with this choice?” Everyone nodded, though their faces were unsure. It was hard to truly be okay with any choice. None of them really knew what kind of threat they were dealing with.

 

 

“Lena,” Tony stopped his daughter as the team began to file out of the strategy room. She seemed distant and uninterested in Avengers business, which was unusual for her. Paired with her disappearance the night before, Tony was beginning to worry. The girl stopped and let out a long sigh as she turned to face him, her hazel eye looking at him as if she were expecting him to yell. “What’s your deal?”

“ _Dad,_ ” she groaned, rubbing a hand over her forehead.

“No, I’m serious, kid, what’s wrong?” he asked, moving closer to her. She crossed her arms.

“Nothing. I’m _fine_ ,” she insisted, rolling her eyes a little.

“You don’t seem _‘fine,’_ ” he scoffed, staring at her. 

“Well. I am,” she replied dryly.

“Where’d you go, last night?” he asked her. 

“I wasn’t aware I was under the baby monitor protocol,” she retorted. 

“Alright, fine, don’t tell me,” he said, studying her. “You’re off your game, you know,” he said.

“Oh my god…”she grumbled.

“Came in late,”

“I overslept!”

“Didn’t have an opinion on this Namor thing,” he continued.

“So?” she scoffed.

“So, it’s not like you. Come on, usually you’re giving me a whole list of reasons we’re doing something the wrong way,” he joked, trying to lighten her mood a little. Something definitely seemed to be wrong. His dad senses were tingling. 

“I voted the way you wanted. What more do you want from me, Stark?” she spat.

“Okay, what’s wrong with you?” he asked harshly, starting to get angry.

“Nothing!” she yelled, throwing her hands up as if she were frustrated with this conversation.

“What, are you PMSing or something?” he asked, his tone establishing that he was just as annoyed.

“Ugh. No! Why would you ask me something like that?” she yelled.

“Is it some guy? Did some guy piss you off?” he asked.

“A guy is _currently_ pissing me off,” she scoffed.

“I’m _pissing you off_?” Tony asked incredulously, his brows lifting. Lena shrunk back a bit, her eyes faltering. “Jesus, Lena, I’m just trying to figure out what’s bothering you. Clearly something is.”

“I just want my own life, Dad,” she replied, looking up at him with fury in her eyes. “I feel like all that I am is a substitute Stark, like I’m some sort of… mini version of you.”

“That’s not true, Lena…”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t that how you see me, though? ‘Oh, my kid didn’t answer, yet, so that means I win,’ like I’m automatically supposed to think like you,” she pointed out.

“Wait a minute, if you wanted to vote with Rogers, you could have. That’s on you,” Tony pointed out.

“I dunno how I wanted to vote,” she grumbled.

“Because you’re _distracted_ … and okay, I can believe that you don’t want to feel like you’re an extension of me, but I don’t believe that’s what’s distracting you,” Tony pushed, his voice softening a little.

“Yeah, well… maybe, in a way, it is. I can’t… just do what’s best for me. I have to always consider what’s best for you… for the Avengers,” she muttered, crossing her arms, her eyes faltering a bit. Tony’s eyes widened, and he stared at her for a moment, his mind swirling with wild speculation that... he knew was probably not the case, but also, _what if it was?_

“... You’re not pregnant or something…” he asked cautiously. 

“No…” Lena scoffed, glaring at him. “See? That’s what I mean.”

“No, I mean… if you were, it would be your decision-”

“Would it? It would be a Stark decision, or an Avengers decision. Not a Lena decision. Nothing is a Lena decision, not really. Everything I am… everything I do is for you, for the Avengers. Since the day I came into your life. Pepper pointed out to me that I haven’t done anything for myself in years. I barely even date, Dad,” Lena complained.

“Lena, when you decided to join the Avengers, I told you that there were certain sacrifices you’d have to make. That we all make. But I didn’t ask you to sign your life away. Your life is still yours,” he said matter-of-factly. “Maybe you don’t get to live like other young people your age. You don’t get to party, and go out on Tinder dates and spring break in the Cayman Islands-”

“That’s not what I want!”

“-but you chose to be a hero. Nobody forced you to do it. Nobody told you to. You _chose_ it. And I’m _goddamn_ proud of you for that choice, but Lena, the choice was yours. It still is. You wanna be the socialite daughter of a billionaire, go to Fashion Week and the Met Gala, date Hollywood assholes, say the word. You don’t have to do any of this.”

“I just want you to be proud of me!” she yelled, tears spilling out of her eyes.

“I am! _So proud_ , Lena,” he reassured her, going to hug her. But she pulled away, shaking her head.

“But only if I make the right choices. Ones that you like, right?” she cried, her hazel eyes staring at him, tears rushing down her light brown cheeks.

“No. I’m proud no matter what you choose,” he insisted. “... If you don’t want to be Ironheart, anymore-”

“It’s not about Ironheart, Dad. I love being Ironheart,” she sniffled, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “... Just, forget I said anything. I’m just tired.”

“Lena… just tell me what’s wrong,” he pushed, concern filling him. This was definitely out of character for his daughter, and now he was sure that something was wrong.

“Nothing… I’m sorry I was so distracted, okay? It won’t happen again,” she said, turning to leave.

“Honey-” he called after her, but she rushed out before he could stop her. And he wanted to go after her, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t even really sure what was wrong. Being the father of a girl had taught him a lot, over the years. Lena had been through so many emotional ups and downs, a couple of garbage college boyfriends, body image issues, hair issues. There was even a few summers, the first few years after she showed up at Avengers Tower, where the paparazzi wouldn’t leave her alone and he’d had to guide her through it. But the times that were the hardest for him were the times like this. When he just didn’t understand what she was going through. Where he knew she wasn’t telling him everything, and he just felt _lost_. She had come to him already grown, already raised into a beautiful, smart, capable young lady. But she still needed to be parented, in many ways. She still needed her father, and sometimes, Tony wasn’t sure he really knew what he was doing. 

He trusted her. She was smart, and generally knew how to handle herself well. But that didn’t mean he didn’t worry. And as much as he didn’t want to be, he was _really_ worried. He needed to find out what was wrong with his girl. He was going to find out, so he could make it right.

  
  


Bucky had been searching for Lena all day. When he found her, she was in her lab, sweat glistening on her skin as she sparred with a punching bag. There was power in her blows, and anger or frustration behind them; he couldn’t quite tell. But she hit and kicked the bag powerfully, yelling and grunting as if she were kicking someone’s ass in her mind. He knew her track record as Ironheart, but he’d never seen her in action. It was a little silly to admit, but he had always assumed it was all the suit. The suit gave her strength and power, allowed her to fly, and use powerful weapons that could take down a tank. It was impressive to see that the girl behind the suit packed a punch, too. 

When she stopped to catch her breath, catching the bag between her hands, he approached her slowly; _slowly_ , so as not to accidentally set off her fight response. She turned her head quickly to look at him when she felt him approach, and she let out a relieved sigh when she saw that is was him, taking a pair of cordless earbuds from her ears.

“Oh, hi,” she said, nodding at him. He smiled, watching as she walked to her workstation and placed the earbuds on the table.

“Thought you hated this lab,” he commented. She shrugged.

“It’s secluded,” she replied, picking up a bottle of some greenish liquid and taking a swig. 

“You know, you should really just drink water,” he offered. She held up her middle finger as she drank, and he chuckled. 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she smiled a little, sitting the bottle down on the table and heading back to the bag, punching it a few times.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.

“ _Oooh_. Don’t do that,” she replied, grunting as she punched the bag.

“Why?”

“Too suspicious. If you’re always looking for me-”

“Didn’t say I _asked_ for you. Just _looked_. With my eyes,” he clarified, watching her punch the bag. “Nice form.”

“Duh,” she chuckled, giving the bag a fancy spinning kick to show off, then catching it, glancing back at him to see if he was impressed. He just smiled a little, chuckling to himself. 

“Didn’t realize you could fight,” he said.

“Wow. You really underestimate me, Buck,” she commented.

“No. I just… assumed you built your gadgets so hand-to-hand combat wouldn’t be as important,” he offered, his eyes taking the liberty of admiring her body, clad in tight black athletic pants and a black sports bra. She was beautiful, and _his_ , and he still hadn’t quite gotten used to the idea. 

“ _‘Gadgets’_ ,” she chuckled, smirking at him, amused by his choice of words. “To be honest, they make it easier. But, I mean… have you _seen_ Nat fight? I’m trying to get on her level.”

“Good luck,” he teased.

“Oh, you don’t think I can?” she laughed, crossing her arms and grinning at the handsome, metal-armed man she couldn’t help but fall for. 

“No, I don’t,” he grinned, walking to her with the intention of pulling her into his arms and kissing her, sweat-soaked body and all.

“Fuck you, Barnes,” she laughed, pressing her hands into his chest as he got closer, inhaling sharply at the feeling of his hands against her waist. His lips, warm and inviting, pressed into hers and she hummed at the feel of them, her arms sliding around his shoulders easily as she melted into his kiss. “Move. I’m training,” she smiled playfully, pulling away from him.

“Take a break, Rocky,” he joked, pulling her closer, his arms wrapping around her thin waist. 

“ _Rocky?_ You’ve seen that movie, old man?” she asked, lifting a brow. He laughed, nodding.

“Sam. He’s got me watching every important movie of the last century, it seems like. I’ve already seen every film in the Rocky franchise,” he replied. Her eyes lit up, and she gasped.

“ _Star Wars!_ ” she exclaimed.

“Seen em,” he replied apologetically. “But, we can watch them together, if you want.”

“Boo,” she frowned. “Don’t tell me you’ve already watched all the good ones.”

“Eh…. All of Sam’s favorites, at least,” Bucky replied, shrugging a little. Lena pecked his lips, gazing into his eyes.

“... Harry Potter?” she asked curiously. 

“Boy wizard?” he puzzled, his brows furrowed. 

“No?”

“Shuri was telling me to watch those,” he commented. “How many movies is it?”

“Like _eight_ , dude,” Lena chuckled. “You have to watch them! They’re so good. I mean, not as good as the books, but definitely one of the best book-to-film franchises of all time.”

“Going for the hard sell, huh,” he chuckled, smiling at her. 

“I dunno. It might be more of a Millennial thing,” she frowned a little. 

“Let’s watch them,” he replied gently, gazing into her eyes.

“Really?” she lit up, and Bucky chuckled, nodding.

“Yeah, whatever you want,” he responded.

“Yes! We have to marathon them!” she insisted. “It’s the only way.”

“Marathon? Oh no…”

“Oh, yes, old man!” she laughed. He chuckled.

“Stop calling me ‘old man’,” he smiled softly, though he wouldn’t care what she called him as long as she was his. 

“Hm. What should I call you, then?” she smiled, her eyes fixated on his. 

“... I dunno, just call me Bucky,” he replied bashfully. She chuckled, her hands brushing through the scruffy beard that covered his cheeks, and she kissed him softly. 

“Okay, Bucky…” she cooed against his lips, and Bucky felt as if his heart would _burst_. As much as he’d tried not to be, he was smitten with her. And he watched, in awe of her, as she pulled away from him and moved towards her workstation, wiping sweat off of her face and neck with a towel. “Would you want to come to my apartment?” she asked, glancing at him.

“Your apartment?” he puzzled. He wasn’t aware that she even had an apartment. She’d only ever been around the Facility, as long as he’d known her. Though, admittedly, that hadn’t been very long.

“Yeah. It’s in Manhattan,” she explained, smiling shyly as if she were afraid he’d read her as forward. “I mean, I just... figured it would be getting away from the team, a little. Just you and me. Plus, we can stream all the movies we want on my smart TV.”

“... If you want,” he nodded a little.

“I mean, I’m not inviting you to fuck,” she rambled. “Unless you want to. I mean, I’m not opposed to it, either.”

“Oh,” he fought a smile, chuckling a little.

“I just… I wanna get away from my dad, a little…” she rambled, blushing a little. “Don’t laugh.”

“I’m not, I promise,” he grinned, eyeing her.

“You totally are,” she giggled, biting her lip. “... I mean, I really wasn’t inviting you for sexual reasons, James Barnes.”

“I never said you were, Lena Stark,” he smiled.

“... It was good… I’ll admit,” she muttered, her eyes lingering on him. Bucky pushed the thought of fucking her right there in her lab out of his head. She was hot, and covered in sweat that glistened against her beautiful, brown skin, and her deep hazel eyes suggested that she wanted him to… but they’d already done one dangerous thing with her father too close and too many ears around. He wouldn’t risk it, again.

“How… long would it take to get to your apartment from here?” he asked, lust in his eyes and his voice, even though he tried to hide it. She smirked, her eyes telling him that she had been thinking the same thing.

“.... About 30 minutes, if we hijack a quinjet,”


	7. Respite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Lena find a way to just be. Together.

“Where the hell are you gonna park this thing?” Bucky watched as Lena flew the hijacked quinjet in stealth mode over New York City. The city was really beautiful, at night. It seemed like it had been a lifetime since he’d seen it. He certainly hadn’t been back in the few years that he’d been truly himself. It was different than he remembered, growing up. There were more buildings, and new landmarks in place of some of the ones from his youth. But some things about New York never changed. It was still a living city, full of busy people in a rush, and lights everywhere letting you know that the world never stopped, there. People were out and living their lives in the city, any time of day or night. People in New York were truly _alive_. It was a stark contrast from the home he’d made for himself in the Wakandan countryside. Somehow, his heart yearned for both places. In the quinjet, he couldn’t hear the sounds of the city; the people yelling, the sirens and the horns honking, the music that blared from homes and clubs and cars as you passed by. But he was more than excited to hear them, again.

“I’m not,” Lena replied as she brought the jet in over her apartment building, and Bucky watched her type some kind of command into the control panel, then stand from the pilot seat he’d been standing behind and walk past him towards the back of the jet. “Come on. Grab a pack,” she said, nodding towards the parachutes that hung on the wall of the jet. She smirked at him as the Ironheart suit bled out of the heart-shaped necklace around her neck, contouring around her form and covering her before he could even process what was happening.

“Don’t need one,” he said, realizing that she was telling him to deplane, and he marched towards the hatch that had opened in the back of the jet and dove out of it before her. Lena grinned inside her suit.

“Show off,” she commented, diving out of the quinjet behind him. Her repulsors activated, and she flew herself down to the rooftop, waving at Bucky as she flew past him, and landing elegantly on the roof. Bucky landed soon after her, using his vibranium arm to help catch his landing. He made a loud thud as he landed, and the arm combined with his body weight left a dent in the concrete on the rooftop. Lena’s helmet pixelated off of her face, and she placed metal-clad hands at her hips as she judged Bucky with her eyes.

“Maybe don’t alert the whole building that rogue superheroes are on the roof,” she commented. He stood, opening and closing the hand on his vibranium arm to check for damage that he knew wouldn’t be there. Just habit.

“Sorry,” he muttered, stepping towards her. She let out a soft chuckle, and her metal-clad hand took his vibranium one, and their eyes met. And he smiled; he hadn’t smiled so much in _God knows how long_. Then she kissed him, and it was sort of hot, he thought, to kiss her while she still had on the bulk of her Ironheart suit. He hadn’t really thought of her as a superhero; remembering that she _was_ was maybe kind of amazing.

“Let’s go,” she said, guiding him towards the door that led to the stairs.

“What about the quinjet?” he asked, glancing up to look for it, though he knew that in stealth mode he wouldn’t see anything.

“I sent it back on autopilot,” she chuckled. “Don’t be so worried. I covered all bases.”

“That you did,” he relented, smiling as she opened the door to the stairwell. “You gonna be Ironheart the whole time?”

“Should I take the suit off?” she teased, leading him into the stairwell.

“The suit. Other things…” he hinted. She gave him a look, fighting a smirk. “What? I’ll take stuff off, too.”

“ _Bucky_ ,”

“I can even take the arm off. You want me to take the arm off?”

 

“Friday?” Lena called as she stepped into the apartment, Bucky behind her. Bucky was sort of surprised at the spacious, high tech apartment that Lena had, though when he thought about it, she was the daughter of a billionaire. It was large, and two stories, and the tile leading from the front door and into the main room was black marble. The whole place was sleek and modernly decorated, in blacks and a pale blue, and it seemed that Lena made full use of automation throughout the place.

“Hello, Lena,” the AI responded; the door behind Bucky closed. “Hello, Sergeant Barnes.”

“Uh. Hi,” Bucky replied awkwardly. Lena smiled at him, and the nanoparticles that comprised her suit quickly disappeared back into her necklace.

“Can you do me a favor, Friday, and not let my dad know we’re here?” Lena said to the AI, taking Bucky’s hand and leading him into the main room of the apartment.

“Should I also disable the locator on your Ironheart necklace?” Friday asked. Lena’s eyes rolled.

“ _Dad_ …” she groaned. “Yes, please disable the locator.”

“No problem,” Friday replied. Lena smiled at Bucky, shaking her head.

“He’s so protective. You have no idea how many monitors I’ve disabled over the years,” she told Bucky, amusement in her voice.

“You seem like you have a great relationship with him,” Bucky commented, smiling a little, though maybe there was a little guilt in his voice. Lena nodded a little.

“He’s a great dad,” she said, leading Bucky to the clean-looking greyish-blue couch, and sitting down with him. She grabbed the remote from the glass table in front of the couch and turned on the smart TV that hung on the wall over the mantle of her gas fireplace. “He… really didn’t have to be, either. We met when I was nineteen. He didn’t even know I existed before that. The guy really stepped up, you know?” Lena glanced at Bucky, offering him the remote. He sort of looked at it before taking it from her.

“You know I don’t really… know how to work this thing, right?” he commented, and they shared a little laugh. Lena took the remote from him, pressing the big, red 'Netflix' button.

“So… pick anything you wanna watch. Just use the arrow buttons to move left or right, up or down. And the big circle that says ‘OK’ is how you select something,” she said, giving him the remote. Bucky nodded, taking the remote in his vibranium hand, looking at the screen as he tried out the arrow buttons.

“ _Love the future_ ,” he muttered, and Lena chuckled a little.

“Didn't you have TV in Bucharest?” she asked teasingly.

“How’d you know about Bucharest?” he smirked, glancing at her.

“I’ve been spying on you,” she grinned playfully.

“No, I didn’t really have TV…” he replied, scrolling through the seemingly endless movies and TV shows listed on this Netflix thing. “Definitely nothing like this.” He stopped on a movie called 'Kubo and the Two Strings' and hit ‘OK’.

“Kubo! Good choice,” she exclaimed. “Want popcorn or anything?”

“No, don’t trouble yourself,” he said, sitting back on her comfortable couch and watching as the movie began to play. “What’s this about?”

“A young boy in Japan, whose mother is a moon goddess, and grandfather is an evil murderous moon god who wants him dead,” Lena replied, nestling herself between his vibranium arm and his warm, firm body. Instinctively, he slid the arm around her, smiling to himself. It was the moments like this with her that maybe he liked the most. The normal moments, where she was just a girl and he was just a boy and they were just _together_. It still felt novel, as if somehow they’d stolen the moment; a _s if they were on borrowed time._

“What was the one you wanted to watch?” he asked her distantly, his nose nuzzling her fluffy afro as he watched the movie.

“Harry Potter,” she chuckled, sliding her hand over his abs and settling it on his chest. “But it’s okay, I like this one, too. We can marathon Harry Potter later.”

“Your hair smells good,” he commented randomly.

“Thanks?” she chuckled.

“Why do you laugh at everything I say?” he smiled, chuckling to himself.

“I dunno,” she sighed, smiling to herself. “I guess you’re just really cute. It’s like regular stuff amazes you.”

“Well… Maybe I ain’t been regular in a while,” he said gently. Lena nodded, her head nestling in the crook of his neck, her arms secure around his midsection. She couldn’t fathom the kind of life he must have had, all those decades. Nearly a century of having been controlled by Hydra. His ‘self’ practically stolen from him; _erased_. Either frozen or on some sort of killing mission. It wasn’t a life at all, and Lena’s heart ached at the thought of it. “Don’t… get all sentimental about it,” Bucky teased. Lena shook her head.

“I’m not,” she said softly.

“... Really, I’m… I’m better than I’ve ever been. The past is the past,” he reassured her.

“It is,” she agreed.

“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me,” he continued, his eyes fixated on the TV.

“I don’t feel sorry for you, Bucky,” she reassured him. He fell quiet for a moment, and Lena moved her head to his chest, pulling her legs up onto the couch to cuddle next to him. She could hear the steady thump of his heart in his chest, which was strangely sort of soothing.

“... I think, maybe, you’re the only person who does,” he said after a while.

“I think Steve would probably die if he heard you say that,” Lena commented. Bucky chuckled, but Lena thought it sounded a little sad, so she looked up at him. “I’m serious. Like, he’d drop dead from shock and betrayal.”

“I didn’t mean Steve doesn’t care about me,” he replied.

“What _did_ you mean?” she asked seriously, gazing at him.

“I dunno,” he replied, his eyes connecting with hers. “I dunno. I just sorta wonder what you’re doing, here.”

“Here? Watching a movie with you,” she blinked.

“No… no, I mean. _With me_. I don’t know that I know what you’re doing with me. Except that, maybe, you… you do, you feel _sorry for me_. And _that_ … maybe gives you some kind of purpose,” Bucky replied, the words sort of pouring out of him as if he'd been considering the thought for a long time.

“What are you saying? Are you saying I see you as some sort of _project_?” Lena asked sharply.

“No. … I dunno,” Bucky grumbled out, his eyes shifting back towards the movie. Lena stared at him. Just _stared_. And he swore he could feel her gaze burning into his face, and his heart began to race. “It’s just… you know. The whole _‘broken white boy’_... thing…”

“I’m… not sure I know how to respond to that,” Lena replied, her eyes, wide and anguished, staring at his face. He sighed, his vibranium hand rubbing at her back, and he winced a little as she rested her chin on his shoulder, her lips pressing into his neck. “I don’t think that’s… I don’t think of you that way,” she said softly. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that, Bucky.”

“Nah, I-” he sighed; she pecked his neck again, gently, _lovingly_ , and he inhaled a shaky breath. “Nobody else… even looks at me. It’s like I’m a ghost. But you… I dunno. I don’t really understand why…”

“Maybe it’s because you saw me, too,” she replied, her voice soft and shy. “You saw me, even when I was trying to hide myself away.”

“See… that’s because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” he admitted.

“Mkay. That’s bullshit, but okay,” she chuckled.

“It’s true,”

“Yeah, but… it’s more than that. At least I think it is. Right? Because a million guys think I’m pretty… but literally none of them get me,” she replied. “That sounds pathetic,” she winced, her hand absently tracing the contours of his chest. “That’s...not what I mean. I guess… like, somehow it feels like… you’re seeing something that I don’t feel like other people see.”

“... I just see Lena,” he replied softly.

“.... and I just see Bucky,” she said. “And you’re not _broken_. I mean it. Stop calling yourself broken.”

“... Lena. I don’t know that I’ll ever be whole, again,” he said. He really didn’t. He was still trying to become himself. So much of the old Bucky was gone that he didn’t know if he’d ever be that guy again. He was someone else. Parts of the old Bucky. Parts of this new person he was trying to become. He hoped none of the guy he’d been for seventy years.

“Maybe you should just… change your definition of whole’,” she suggested. He glanced at her, looking into her compassionate, beautiful hazel eyes; he’d really never met a pair of eyes more beautiful. And he kissed her softly, her lips like two warm pillows, drawing him into a place of comfort that almost felt dangerous. It still scared him to let his guard down as much as he had with her. It scared him, and excited him.

“You’re good, you,” Bucky smiled a little, looking into her eyes in awe.

“Well. I have been called a ‘genius’, by people who oughta know,” she grinned, chuckling when he groaned.

“Let’s just watched the movie, _‘genius’_ ,” he teased.

 

 

“I bet you were a paper boy when you were younger,” Lena’s hands casually played with Bucky’s hair as she lounged, Bucky’s head on her stomach as they both stretched out on the large couch. Bucky scoffed, his hand absently sliding over the soft skin of her hairless leg. _He couldn’t get enough of touching this girl’s body_.

“What makes you say that?” he chuckled.

“I dunno. I was watching this Disney movie called ‘Newsies’, right? And, like, it was about these boys who sold newspapers like way back in the day, and like, they went on strike because the man, Pulitzer, who owned the newspaper raised their prices. To buy the papers,” she started.

“Sure, the newsboy strike,” he chuckled.

“And anyway, it was set in New York, and some of the boys were from Brooklyn,” she said, the pads of her fingers massaging his scalp. They had been hardly paying attention to Kubo; the boy was now battling one of his aunts in some dilapidated old house, but Lena was only watching in passing. Bucky’s company was far more interesting than any movie.

“Just because there were boys from Brooklyn, you think I sold newspapers when I was a kid?” he chuckled.

“Well, I dunno. All those old movies and TV shows show little boys selling newspapers,” she replied playfully.

“I wasn’t a newsboy,” he replied with a laugh. “And anyway, I think that newsboy strike you’re talking about happened in the 1890s. I’m not that old.”

“I dunno how old you are, James,” she teased, smiling as she awaited his surely annoyed response.

“I’m one hundred and …. two,” he replied seriously, hesitating as if he wasn’t quite sure himself. “Do the math.”

“When’s your birthday?” she asked.

“March 10th,” he replied; she brushed her fingers through his hair, which felt so nice that his eyes just sort of closed on their own.

“19…. 17,” she figured, her brows raising; he was really born over a century ago- she hadn’t really thought about that, before.

“Yep,” he said, letting out a long sigh. “What about you? When’s your birthday?”

“November 5th,” she replied. “Do the math,” she teased. He groaned. “Nope. Do the math. What year?”

“You’re twenty-four. So… Nineteen… ninety… uh…” he hummed, she giggled. “God, you were born in the fucking 90s…”

“What year, James?” she laughed.

“Okay… uh…” he hesitated, chuckling to himself. “Oh no… were you born in ‘94?”

“I was…” she chuckled, nodding. “Is that bad?”

“I’m so old…” he groaned, smiling as she stroked a loving hand through his hair.

“Yeah,” she agreed, laughing to herself. He pinched her thigh in retaliation, and she squealed. “Ow! No pinching, asshole!”

“You’re supposed to say ‘No, Buck, you’re not that old,’” he said, chuckling as he rubbed the spot he pinched apologetically.

“No, Buck, you’re not that old,” she parrotted playfully. He shifted his head under her touch, kissing her stomach and gazing at her.

“Lena, you’re something special,” he sighed, smiling at her.

“ _... Ditto,_ ” she replied. She was fully aware that she was falling dangerously fast for this man. She wasn’t quite sure what that meant, or even where they’d be allowed to let this thing go. But he was beautiful, and surprisingly comfortable, and by all accounts, she didn’t mind the falling. She thought that maybe she should try her hardest not to fall, but she really didn’t mind it. She _really didn’t_.

“What about you? What was your childhood like?” he asked, gazing up at her.

“You didn’t actually tell me about yours,” she countered.

“Yeah, but… you didn’t grow up with Stark, right?” he pushed, his arms sliding under her as he shifted her under him, pulling himself up so that she was in his arms. She moved easily for him, and when they were chest to chest, he pulled her close, kissing her lips softly.

“I grew up with my mom…” she said after a while. “In North Carolina.”

“Did you know who your dad was?” he asked. She shook her head, her hand trailing up his bicep gently.

“Not a clue. I mean, I guess I could’ve guessed. Looking back, I think she kind of… she kind of realized it would eventually… I mean, I was a lot like him. My mom, she wasn’t, like, stupid or anything, but she certainly wasn’t very… techy. Or sciency. Looking back, I can kind of picture the apprehension in her face every time I’d do something way beyond my peers at school. Like, when I was in middle school, I just started building robots. Like, I’d take things apart at home, and build real robots. Robots to put away my things. Robots to do my laundry. Robots to carry my books to school- _that_ one sure got me teased a lot,” Lena rambled, biting her lip when she felt like she was talking too much, her eyes shifting to Bucky’s cautiously, as if she thought he’d think she was weird. Like those kids in middle school did.

“That’s incredible,” Bucky replied, awestruck by her, not the slightest hint that he found her weird.

“Yeah… I guess,” she chuckled. “I dunno. Anyway, I think she sort of… knew, back then, that she couldn’t keep it a secret forever. The funny thing is, I was literally obsessed with Tony Stark, then. Iron Man, I mean. I was obsessed. I mean, I didn’t have a crush or anything, _thank God_ , but he was my hero. I wanted to be just like him. I … sometimes wonder what she thought about that. How that must have felt.”

“Why didn’t she tell you?” Bucky asked.

“I dunno… I mean, she said she was scared. Before she died. I don’t know exactly what she meant by that. I assume she was scared for me. Like, maybe she didn’t want… me to feel rejected, or get hurt. Because I don’t think she thought he’d… want me…” Lena shook her head. “I mean, they weren’t in love.”

“That’s …”

“ _A lot_. I know,” she sighed. “And, nothing at all, compared to everything you’ve been through.”

“I wouldn’t say it was nothing. I mean, you sort of… found out you hit the genetic lottery,” he pointed out.

“ _Eh…_ ” she winced.

“What?”

“I dunno. I kinda hate when people say things like that,” she frowned. “Like, when a lot of my friends at NYU found out, they were like ‘You’re rich!’ You know? And, like, I dunno. That part was always weird. I didn’t really… care that my dad was this world famous billionaire, and- okay, I did grow up sort of poor, and maybe there were things I was excited about. Like… being able to go to a fucking doctor without worrying about how I was going to pay for it. And, like… no more student loan debt. Dad just paid for my tuition outright. But, like-”

“No, I didn’t mean…” Bucky made a face, sort of apologetic and confused. “Sometimes I forget that Stark’s rich. That’s not what I meant. I was… kind of talking about your dad being your hero.”

“Oh,” she muttered out, her eyes staring at him awkwardly. “Oh, yeah, that was… that was pretty cool, honestly,” she smiled a little. “... Sometimes I forget how good you are,” she commented, trailing her fingers over his scruffy cheek.

“What do you mean?” he smiled softly, their eyes connecting.

“You just… _defy expectations_ ,” she replied gently.

“And that’s good?” he asked; she nodded.

“Really good,” she replied. She’d gotten used to people getting close to her because she was Tony Stark’s daughter. Because her father was a billionaire, and that made her an heiress. But that wasn’t Bucky. It wasn’t at all what he was about.

“... I kinda think I love you, Lena,” Bucky said. He said it as if he had meant to just think it. As if he hadn’t even realized he was saying it out loud. Lena was a little taken aback, and her heart nearly leapt from her chest at the words. He wasn’t the first guy to ever say those words to her. There was the guy she went to her junior prom with, who kissed her after a first dance and bashfully whispered those words to her behind a decorative pillar. And there was her last boyfriend, who declared it, loudly and forcefully in the middle of an argument. Both times, her heart sort of sank, as if it could tell immediately that it wasn’t right. Both times, she’d said it back out of obligation more than feeling. It wasn’t that she didn’t have feelings for those guys. But those were strong words. Words she always felt would be easy for her to say if they were true. Would flow out of her like water to the person she was supposed to say it to.

When Bucky said it, her heart didn’t sink. In fact, her heart reacted in a way that she couldn’t really identify; it felt as if it had stopped and was racing all at once. And, for the first time, those words had rendered her speechless. Her hands clinged to him, one to his shoulder and the other to his chest, and she stared at him, her mouth searching for the right thing to say. Because she wanted to say it back. She wanted to, desperately. But saying it back felt so serious. So real. Because _maybe this time it was true…_

“I know… what you’re gonna say,” he started, chuckling awkwardly, his blue eyes falling away from hers. “‘We don’t even know each other’ right? The thing is, I can’t help it. My brain keeps… screaming it, and it’s all I want to say. It’s all I’ve been wanting to say all night.”

“I…” she exhaled, biting down on her bottom lip, her heart pounding. Nobody ever told her what this would feel like. How scary it would feel. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t… _make words._

“... Don’t leave me hangin’, here,” he chuckled nervously, his hands sliding down her back as if he were afraid he’d just lost her. So, she kissed him. She kissed him slow, and deep, parting his lips with her tongue. When he accepted her tongue into his mouth, their tongues met, swirling against each other, lips shifting against each other so that they could best feel each other. The scruff of his beard tickled her face as she tasted his mouth, his tongue, his lips, and she wrapped her leg around his hip, pressing herself against his crotch to feel the bulge in his jeans. His hand planted itself firmly against her hip, and she felt him grind her deliberately, and she moaned into his mouth. She could feel him stiffening in his pants, and her pussy began to moisten; she’d never wanted anyone more. She’d never wanted anyone with all of her being.

Her lips trailed down his bearded chin, and over the stubbly skin of his neck, and she grinded with him, her hands groping and gripping his muscular body desperately.

“ _I love you, too, James,_ ” she whispered against the skin of his neck, and it happened just the way she always knew it would. The words just eased out of her mouth, a truth she couldn’t have hidden if she tried. A truth her body wouldn’t even allow her to hide.

And then, he was shifting her onto her back, his body positioned over her, and he kissed her, long, and deep, and so beautiful that Lena thought she might actually cry. She cupped his face, holding him against her lips, until, against her wishes, he pulled his lips away from hers. Then, his lips left soft, wet kissed against her neck, and he grazed his teeth over her skin, groaning as if he couldn’t quite get enough of her. As if nothing was enough.

She licked her lips as his trailed down to her collar bone, leaving gentle, delicious kisses all over her skin, and she knit fingers into his hair as he kissed down to her chest, kissing just above the Ironheart necklace, which fell just above her breasts. She exhaled as his fingers eased the arc reactor aside, and as his lips kissed where the thing had covered, and his fingers brushed delicately over the fabric of her tank that covered her breasts. He glanced up at her, and he pushed himself up a little, sliding the straps of her tank off of her shoulders, slowly peeling the thing down past her breasts to reveal them; she helped him, easing her arms out of the think straps. His flesh fingers danced gingerly over the delicate skin of her bare breasts, and he teased fingers over one of her brown nipples, his eyes fixated on her beautiful body. She felt the vibranium hand move to ease the top down a little, but he hesitated when the metal touched the soft skin over her ribcage.

“It’s okay,” she exhaled, nodding. “You can touch me.”

He looked down at her, his blue eyes uncertain, but he let his vibranium fingers trail nervously over her skin. And she grasped his metal hand, guiding it to her breast and coaxing him to let the hand really touch her. Really take her soft breast gently into his metal hand.

“You won’t hurt me,” she said, her eyes certain as they met his. He kissed her lips, gently, letting his vibranium hand cup her breast, as gently as he could muster with that arm. “Can you feel me?” she exhaled breathlessly.

“I can feel you,” he affirmed, and he stole a hungry kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth as his hands moved to the fabric of her tank. He shoved the thing up, and their lips parted as he forced the thing over her head, his eyes never separating from hers. Lena craved his lips, and she pulled him into a hungry kiss, but he pulled back to stare at her bare breasts. And his flesh hand grasped the round, soft flesh of her breast as he kissed the other, his lips easing around her nipple; lingering there. Lena shuddered at the feeling of his hot breath against the sensitive skin, and she sucked in a length of air as she felt his warm, wet tongue circle around her nipple. His eyes, piercing and the color of ice reflecting the morning sky, shifted up at her, and she let out a soft sound as his lips closed around her nipple. Her hand gripped a handful of his hair, involuntarily, and her breathing slowed as his warm tongue flickered and swirled on her sensitive nipple, his metal hand snaking around her back to lift her torso to his mouth.

His fingers, warm and rough and battle worn, pinched the other nipple, and he moved his lips to kiss it, before his tongue gave it the very same treatment, swirling and flickering and driving Lena crazy with desire. Then, he trailed his tongue down her stomach, and kissed her belly button, which tickled and made Lena gasp. And she sat up on her elbows to watch him unbutton her denim shorts. Her body shifted to help him as he slid the shorts down her slender legs and over her bare feet, and she smiled at him as he kissed her toes, then her knee, and she let him spread her legs with ease, her chest heaving as his metal hand pushed up her thigh and towards her dripping pussy.

She gasped nervously as his metallic fingers grazed over her clit, and her hazel eyes, wide and uncertain, locked with his blues.

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice husky with lust. Lena nodded, inhaling sharply as the metal fingers moved, gently, from her clit to her opening. He teased a vibranium finger around the hole, his flesh hand gripping her thigh as he slid it inside slowly. Lena let out a soft, surprised noise, and her hand instinctively grasped his vibranium wrist, but he pushed in and out with ease, and it felt good and was sort of hot, and Lena watched in awe, her legs spreading wider to allow him whatever freedom he needed to please her.

Then, he leaned down and his lips engulfed her clit, and Lena let out a surprised, pleasured moan, her hands gripping his hair as she felt the warmth and wetness of his tongue sliding over her slick clit.

“Fuck, Buck!” she gasped, her hips lifting as he sucked her clit, as his metal fingers pushed into her hole faster, and her toes began to curl as pleasure coursed through her body. She whimpered as he slid the fingers out of her, and his tongue trailed a line from her clit to her hole, and swirled back up to her clit, repeatedly, in a figure-8. He hummed darkly as he made a meal of her pussy, and Lena moaned loudly, her body contorting from the torturous pleasure. His arms wrapped themselves around her thighs to hold her still, and he looked up at her through lusty, hazy eyes as he pushed his tongue into her.

“Ooooh, fuuuck,” she moaned, watching as he pushed his tongue in and out of her hole, as he dragged his tongue back over her clit, as he licked circles into the clit, growling with hungry lust. “Fuck… fuck, Bucky, I’m gonna cum. Wait-” she gasped. He chuckled, his tongue swirling over her clit a few more times before he let up, his lips kissing her pussy softly.

“That fast?” he teased, smirking at her.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” she exhaled breathlessly, watching as he kissed her clit again, his lips closing around the engorged thing. She whined, biting her lip.

“I’ll stop,” he chuckled, sitting back on his knees and pulling his shirt over his head. Lena watched as he tossed the thing aside, smirking at her, and she grinned.

“That was really good,” she complimented him. He smiled a little, his eyes faltering a bit, and he unbuttoned his jeans, unzipping the fly before pushing them down.

“You liked that?” he teased shyly.

“Mhm,” she replied, chuckling a little. “... Underwear, too,” she instructed him, her eyes staring at his muscular form, his bulging cock in his tight boxer-briefs.

“Patience,” he chuckled, his eyes teasing her as he slowly slid his underwear down. He had perhaps the nicest cock she’d ever seen. Penises weren’t necessarily the prettiest organ in the world. Most of them were a little weirdly shaped and off-colored, riddles with veins… Bucky’s was, she decided, actually quite pretty. It was a fleshy-pink color, and thick and large, but not intimidatingly so. She smiled when she saw it, and she sat up to grasp it, her hand stroking it slowly. She gave the head of his cock a soft kiss, her eyes looking up at him, and he licked his lips, shaking his head.

“Uh uh,” he said. “I gotta get in you. I won’t last.”

“Oh, it’s like that?” she smirked, teasing him. His strong hands gripped her waist and he laid her back, kissing her lips softly.

“It’s like that,” he hummed darkly, easing himself between her legs, teasing the head of his cock between her slick folds. She bit her lip, her eyes connecting with his; she wanted him that badly, too. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna handle business,” he smirked, pushing his cock against her entry. She opened her legs wide for him, sucking in a nervous breath, her hands exploring his muscular chest, and settling at his shoulder as he pushed into her; his thick cock feeding into her slow, inch by inch, until he’d filled her. They both let out soft moans when he’d entered her fully, and she clung to him, her face burying into his shoulder.

“Okay?” he asked, and she nodded, and when she did, she felt his hips move between her legs and his cock pull slightly out, and push back in, and repeat, and repeat, slowly until they both had adjusted to the feeling. Which was out of this world good, and took Lena’s breath away. He wasn’t wearing a condom, she realized. That was the difference. What she was feeling was him, no barriers. Just him. And he felt _mind-blowingly good_.

“Oh, God, that’s amazing, James…” she moaned, her hands shifting to his waist as she felt him pick up speed, his hips thrusting into her rhythmically, his cock, hot and stiff, pulsating as it stretched her tight walls. He groaned lustfully as he stroked into her, his hands grasping her thighs, pushing them open, using them for leverage. “God, you’re so deep, baby,” she whined, her back arching into his strokes. She knew she needed to stop him; she knew they should be getting a condom. But she couldn’t force herself to stop him. _She didn’t want to stop him_.

“Shit,” he grunted, his lips pecking her neck, his hips bucking into her wildly. “Shit, we need a condom,” he said, sitting up a little, panting as he slowed his strokes, looking between them as he worked his way to a torturous stop.

“Nooo,” Lena whined. “It’s fine.”

“It’ll just take a sec,” he rationalized, his voice husky and his chest heaving. Lena watched, frowning a little as he pulled out of her slowly. When he was out, he looked at her apologetically, and he sat up, reaching for his jeans. “No worries. I got it,” he muttered, pulling a condom out of the back pocket. Lena rubbed a hand over her forehead, knitting her fingers into her messy afro as she caught her breath, her hazel eyes watching as he opened the bothersome thing and slid it over his cock, which was slick with her juices; which, Lena thought, was sexy as hell.

“We don’t have to use a condom _every_ time,” she protested.

“Oh, no?” Bucky smirked a little in response.

“You’re my only,” she pointed out.

“You’re mine, too,” he chuckled, his hands settling on her knees when he’d finished sliding the condom on.

“So… there’s nothing to worry about,” she perked a brow.

“... Only Stark attempting to kill me if I got you pregnant,” Bucky commented, parting her legs and leaning down to kiss her lips.

“Somehow, I think you’d be fine,” she teased. He chuckled, his cock pushing back into her slowly. Lena bit down on her bottom lip, a soft, pleasured sound pushing out of her throat.

“I don’t think you want to risk having a baby with the likes of me,” he said, his blue eyes connecting with her hazels as he fed his cock into her til he reached her hilt.

“Shut up and fuck me, Barnes,” she hissed, her legs sliding around his waist. They gazed into each others eyes as he pumped into her slowly; and Lena’s fingers dug into his back because somehow he still felt just as amazing as before. It didn’t take long for his pace to increase, and his deep, sharp strokes pushed pleasured moans out of Lena’s mouth, her nails digging into his pale skin.

“I love you so much,” Bucky hissed, his hips pumping his cock into her recklessly, his hands sliding over her skin, groping her slender body. She could feel him deep inside of her, she could feel the warmth of his cock, and she loved how he stretched her, how his strokes were rough but calculated, how each thrust sent a ridiculous wave of pleasure through her body.

“Don’t hold back,” she hissed, mostly out of curiosity. She knew that she had yet to feel his full strength; she knew that those delicious, deep strokes that he’d been giving her weren’t all that he had. She also knew that maybe she wouldn’t be able to handle it. But when she felt his pace increase, his hips push into her roughly, she gasped and held her breath, holding tightly to him. He grunted with each rough thrust, and soon he was moaning incessantly, and his arms hooked her legs to push them back, so that she couldn’t hinder his pleasure by slowing him.

She let out a whimper, her eyes fluttering closed as her hands balled into fists, his cock drilling her like nothing she’d felt before. Her hands clawed at his back, and she buried her face into his neck as his big cock pounded her tight pussy. It was good. It hurt, and it was so fucking good, and she wanted to tell him, but all she could do was gasp and whimper. She could barely think, let alone form words.

“Fuck,” he growled, his voice hitching in his throat as he bucked roughly into her, the couch bumping loudly against the wall with each thrust. She let out a pained moan, her hand gripping his hair, inadvertently pulling it as she braced herself. So, Bucky eased up a little, his strokes slowing into long, smooth and deep pumps, and he kissed her neck gently; apologetically.

“Oooh,” Lena moaned, her hips winding into his deep strokes. “Yesss, just like that,” she encouraged him, loosening her grip on his hair. Moans pushed out of her throat with each stroke, and she squirmed under him, her toes curling in pleasure. “Mmmm, just like that, baby,” she gasped; she was going to cum. It was right there.

A few more of those long, deep strokes, and her body stiffened, her hands gripping his back; her nails dragging over his skin. She let out a loud moan, her head hanging back, and instinctively, Bucky thrust into her faster, controlled, deep, swift jabs, his blue eyes gazing at her hazily as he watched her face contort in pleasure. The she felt it hit her, her entire body frozen in torturous pleasure as it hit her in waves. She moaned his named, loudly and helplessly, her pussy contracting around his rock hard cock, her body trembling. And he didn’t let up, his cock pounding into her as her body jerked and twitched, and juices leaked out of her and dripped down her butt.

And when she couldn’t take another second, she pushed him back, and her legs twisted together, and she bit her fingers as she whimpered, riding out the best orgasm she’d ever had. Bucky sat back on his knees, his hand stroking her leg supportively, and he watched her as she huffed to catch her breath.

“Holy shit,” she whimpered, her hazel eyes gazing at him in awe.

“You okay?” he asked, slowly coming down beside her and pulling her into his large arms. She nodded a little, her eyes still hazy with lust. Her hand trailed down his chest to his crotch, and she grasped his still engorged cock, her hand stroking it a little.

“Put it back in. I wanna make you cum,” she cooed, her legs sliding around his waist as she brought his cock back towards her entry.

“Yeah?” he asked, lust in his voice, and she nodded, smirking a little, kissing his pinkish lips. “Cuz, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“Mmmm, hurt me, Bucky,” she moaned as she pushed his cock back into her, rocking her hips back and forth on his cock, letting it slide in and out slowly, teasingly. Bucky bit his lip, his eyes narrowing as he gazed into her, and he grunted as she eased herself on top of him, his cock pushing deep into her as they changed positions.

“Ooooh, Lena, that’s so hot,” he moaned, his hands securing themselves at her waist as she rode his cock, her hips winding in slow, torturous circles.

“Fuck,” she groaned, wincing as she bounced on him. Her pussy was still tender, and it throbbed with pleasure and pain as she rode him, but somehow her body wanted more of him, and she closed her eyes, her hands pushing into his chest, and she bounced up and down and concentrated on making him feel as good as he’d made her feel.

“Oh…. God, you’re so sexy,” he moaned, his hips bucking up into her lustfully, and his eyes stared at her beautiful, slender body, her breasts bouncing as she went to work on him.

“Yeah? You gonna cum for me, James?” she moaned out, biting down on her lip as she felt his rough thrusts push into her.

“Mmm… I’m so close, baby,” he grunted, his hands freely exploring her body, groping her breasts, gipping her ass, bouncing her on his dick.

“Oooh… fuck,” Lena moaned, her head hanging back as she let him take over, again, his hands guiding her body down as his hips pushed his throbbing cock up into her, filling her again. He grunted with each thrust, and he gritted his teeth, his hands grasping her hips as his orgasm began to hit him. Lena whimpered as his vibranium hand gripped her hip tightly, pulling her down onto rough thrusts, and she felt his dick dick pumping out warm cum, his body heaving and his mouth dropping open. He moaned as he came, and Lena winded her hips, working him until she was sure he was spent.

“Good God, woman,” Bucky groaned as she slid his spend cock out of her wet pussy, and she smiled at him, biting her lip shyly. Carefully, she laid down on top of him, sliding her arms around his shoulder, and she kissed him softly.

“I love you,” she cooed, gazing into his eyes.

“I can tell, shit,” he grunted hoarsely, and she giggled.

“Shut up,” she sighed, setting her head against his chest, her eyes closing. “...Bucky?”

“Mhmm,” he responded absently, his eyes closing as his arms slid around her waist.

“Can we just… stay here forever and never go back?” she asked, her voice softening.

“... I don’t think we can,” he rationalized, rubbing her back gently.

“Yeah… I know,” she exhaled.

“But… we can stay for awhile,” he said. “Just you and me.”

“Yeah,”

“... The couch is kinda wet, now,” he muttered, his brows furrowing. Lena laughed, and then he did, too. “Should we move?”

“Fine,” she laughed, groaning as she sat up. He smiled, eyeing her as he sat up, too.

“I mean, it was like turning on a faucet,” he teased.

“You know what? Fuck you,” she laughed, standing up and walking towards the stairs. Bucky’s eyes studied her nude body, and he licked his lips, smiling to himself.

“You already did, Lena,” he replied, getting up and following her. She groaned.

“Boooooo,” she protested his over-used pun.

“Twice,” he chuckled, pouring it on thick.

“And if you want it to be three times, you should really shut up,” she smirked over her shoulder at him before descending the stairs.

“Somehow, I don’t think I have anything to worry about,”

 


	8. Respite Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I am yours now, so now I don't ever have to leave..." - The xx

 

“Wait, so why doesn’t he want to be sorted into Slytherin?” Bucky’s arms held Lena as she lay against his chest, both of them nestled cozily under the warm, fluffy blanket on her bed. Bucky was impressed with the kinds of TVs he’d encountered since he arrived back in the States. At the Avengers Facility, the room he lived in had a large television, a “flat screen” as he’d learned it was called, with so many channels that he’d sort of been overwhelmed by the possibilities. Sam had asked him if he wanted to hook up a Roku, which he explained was a streaming device, which he explained would let Bucky watch any shows or movies he wanted at any time, but Bucky hadn’t really understood the need. There were literally thousands of channels available just on cable. 

Lena’s place, though, had streaming on every TV. And she had several of those large flat screen TVs all over her apartment. In every room. 

“I dunno. Slytherins are sort of the antagonists,” Lena explained, her eyes focused on the movie she’d seen literally hundreds of times.

“The whole house? That seems unlikely,” Bucky muttered.

“I mean, they’re not, like, _bad_ , exactly. It’s just that Harry’s main antagonists are Slytherins, and it’s the house Voldemort was in, when he went to Hogwarts,” Lena replied indifferently.

“Who is Voldemort, again?” Bucky puzzled, staring at the screen in confusion.

“ _James_. He’s the dark lord,” Lena sighed.

“He’s Satan?”

“No,” Lena laughed. Bucky chuckled a little, though he didn’t really understand what was funny. “Buck, are you paying attention?”

“Yeah,” he insisted, laughing to himself. Lena smirked, looking up at him.

“Just watch the movie, silly,” she instructed him. “... So, the Slytherins don’t like ‘mud-bloods’, which is what they call ‘muggle borns’ or wizards who are not born to wizards. So, Harry, being half-blood, is not ‘pure’ enough for them.”

“Yikes. So, they’re magic Nazis,” Bucky inferred. 

“Hmm. Yeah, I guess they are,” Lena said, turning back to the movie. “I mean, I dunno. Maybe not exactly. Slytherins would literally lose their shit, if they heard me say that.”

“So… this Voldemort wants to kill Harry?” Bucky asked.

“Mhm,” Lena replied.

“Why? He’s a little kid,”

“Because Harry’s the one destined to destroy him,” Lena chuckled. “Just watch the movie.”

“I’m so confused!” he laughed, and Lena did, too.

“You wouldn’t be if you just _watched_ ,” she insisted.

“... Do you think that guy Strange has a Voldemort?” Bucky asked. Lena laughed, the thought amusing her more than it should’ve. The more she thought about it, the harder she laughed. And then, Bucky was laughing, too. And it was even more hysterical.

“I’m totally asking him that, next time we see him,” Lena wheezed out through laughter.

“What? He’s a wizard, right?” Bucky laughed, and Lena laughed harder.

“I don’t think this is based on a true story, James,” Lena giggled, wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh, my God, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Do you wanna get some food?” Bucky asked, chuckling a little; he was sort of starving. His enhanced body also gave him a super metabolism, and he’d worked up quite an appetite, spending time with Lena.

“Yeah,” Lena chuckled, still imagining Doctor Strange as _The Boy Who Lived_. “We can order something. I don’t feel like cooking.” Lena sat up a little, reaching over to her nightstand to grab her Stark Phone. She clicked an app, and Bucky’s eyebrows rose as he watched her scroll through a long list of restaurants. “What are you in the mood for? I’m thinking tacos.”

“You can stream food, now, too?” Bucky asked, genuine surprise in his voice. Lena looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then she chuckled when she realized what he meant.

“Oh,” she smiled at him. “No, streaming is for, like, movies, TV, music… This is just… ordering. You just select a restaurant and place your order.”

“That’s amazing,” Bucky commented, watching her select a Mexican place and add some tacos to her cart. “And they just bring them to you?”

“Yeah. It’s just delivery. Only, you don’t have to call anyone,” she smiled at him. “Do you want tacos? If not, I can order you something else.”

“Tacos would be great,” he smiled, watching as she added tacos for him. 

“I still… forget that you’re as old as you are,” Lena commented, placing the order and sitting the phone back on the nightstand. “It says 30 minutes.” She settled against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Me, too,” he sighed. “... It’s more like I had… 70 years stolen from me.”

“I know, sweetie,” she smoothed a comforting hand over his chest, her leg draping over his. “How much do you remember, from that time?”

“... More than I’d like to,” he said. His voice had suddenly gotten darker, and Lena was immediately apologetic for asking. She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to apologize to him. But he continued. “I sort of look at it as the time I didn’t exist. _Bucky_ , I mean. He didn’t exist, then. And the other guy… he was more machine than man. He was only objective. And then they’d put me under, again, when it was done.”

“You don’t… have to relive that, James,” she said softly, apologetically.

“Sometimes it helps… You know, talking about it with someone who cares,” he said. “I don’t usually talk about it. Even with Steve. Honestly, I think I told Shuri more than I ever told Steve. I mean, I love the guy, don’t get me wrong. I just… sometimes think Steve needs everything to be okay. People don’t think of him this way, but the guy’s been through a lot, too. And, it’s not lost on me that I’m as much his only connection to his past as he is mine.”

“Yeah,” Lena nodded a little, her hand absently tracing his chest. “I get the vibe that he’s a little burdened by the whole ‘Captain America’ thing. I mean, it’s more of an archetype than a person, don’t you think?”

“ _Burden_ is Steve Rogers’ middle name,” Bucky chuckled a little. “At least he has Sam, now.”

“Yeah, Sam’s a good friend,” Lena commented. Bucky winced a little, realizing he’d almost said too much. But it didn’t seem like Lena read it that way, so he let it go. “Everybody needs a Sam. I wish I had a best friend like that…”

“You can be _my_ best friend,” Bucky offered playfully. Lena chuckled, shifting her gaze up at his face, her hazel eyes studying him.

“... I kinda assumed I was your _girlfriend_ ,” she said casually. Bucky looked at her, his eyes meeting hers.

“Did we never…” he started, and she chuckled softly, shaking her head. “... Do you wanna be my girlfriend?”

“Absolutely,” she cooed, her eyes full of love and admiration. Bucky couldn’t help but to kiss her inviting lips, soft and warm. Kissing her felt like going home, in a way that few things did, anymore.

“I’m sorry. Can you say that one more time?” he hummed against her lips, and she giggled.

“Buck,” 

“I just need to make sure I’m not dreaming,” he insisted, gazing at her in awe.

“You knew I was yours from the moment we met,” she said. And he knew it was true, because from the moment they met, _he was hers_ , too. 

  
  
  


“That’s awful,” Claire sat across from the Atlantean prince at her small kitchen table, watching as he ate a bowl of chicken and rice that she’d made for him.

“It has brought Atlantis a lot of pain,” Namor said, shoveling a spoonful of the rice into his mouth. She had been a great help to him, in his injured state. After submerging himself in her bathtub, he was completely healed, but she insisted that he stay with her for awhile, until he got his bearings in the city. He didn’t know where he was going, after all. He didn’t even know where to look. He had been with Claire for about four days, and it seemed she was a valuable resource. She was helping him understand how things worked on the surface. How _humanity_ worked. And she had helped him get clothes that wouldn’t look so strange, around the city. The only surface-dweller clothes he had, before, were a hoodie and a pair of denim pants. But he’d left them behind, when he went to go confront the Avengers at the Tower-turned-Museum. All he had with him, now, were the clothes she’d found him in. His royal garb, black, and hydrodynamic, covered in shiny scales made from a vibranium-infused material his people had developed long ago. 

“And you think the Avengers can help?” Claire asked eagerly, her brown eyes studying him closely as he ate. Namor sighed a little, moving around small pieces of chicken with his spoon.

“If they cannot, I am not sure what can be done,” he said. He hadn’t really let on that he blamed the Avengers for what happened. After spending time with Claire, he wondered if maybe his anger had been misplaced. Claire was everything that was great about humanity; caring, warm, understanding, kind. And she seemed to like these Avengers, like many of the other surface-dwellers he met. If she liked them, maybe they weren’t so bad. If she thought they could help, maybe they actually could. 

“All I can do is wish you luck, Namor,” Claire said, her tone as apologetic as her eyes. 

“Yes,” Namor nodded sadly. He’d spent a great deal of time with Claire. More than he should’ve. His people were still suffering, his home world torn apart by what had happened when the Avengers faced Thanos. The longer he took, cozy and comfortable in Claire’s apartment, the guiltier he felt. They were his responsibility. It was his responsibility to protect them. To avenge them. “I feel that my time with you, Claire, is coming to an end.”

“What do you mean?” Claire asked, sitting back in her seat, her eyes meeting his strange ocean-colored eyes as they shifted up to her. 

“It’s time I found the Avengers. The longer I stay with you, the longer Atlantis suffers,” he replied.

“Yeah. I understand,” she nodded a little.

“I cannot thank you enough for your kindness,” he replied.

“Namor, really. It’s not a big deal. You needed help,” she shook her head, giving him a soft smile. He smiled at her, too. He’d grown rather fond of the young woman, while staying with her. He learned that she was a nurse, and that she’d spent the past few years helping a few powered people of her own; not the Avengers, she pointed out. She’d even offered to ask them for help, before he explained that Atlantis’s situation didn’t call for the type of help they offered. 

“On the contrary, I think it is a ‘big deal’,” he said sincerely. She smiled a little, her eyes dropping away from his.

“Where will you go?” she asked.

“If they’re upstate, I must go upstate,” Namor said, shoveling another spoonful of chicken and rice into his mouth. Claire nodded a little. 

“Please… be careful,” she commented.

“There is no need to worry, Claire,” Namor said. “As long as I can find water, I will be fine. I am… quite powerful.”

“So, the water acts as, like, a catalyst for that power?” Claire asked. Namor smiled a little.

“Something like that. I am not entirely sure how it works, but it’s as if being away from water too long… drains me,” he replied. “I become vulnerable. Like… a human man. But if I have regular contact with water, I am not easily harmed.”

“Yeah, well… I know someone who’s pretty unbreakable, and I’ve seen him break multiple times,” Claire cautioned him. “So… just… take care of yourself, Namor.”

“I can promise you that I will,” he nodded, his eyes studying her as she worriedly brushed her hair behind her ear. “Are you really that worried?”

“... I just… don’t want this to be the last time we see each other,” she said, smiling at him softly.

“It’s alright. What do I have to worry about? The Avengers are the ‘good guys’, yes?” Namor smiled.

“It isn’t them I’m worried about. The Avengers didn’t put two bullets in your shoulder,” she commented. “... You’re not … from here. And you’re dealing with an entire state full of people who have vivid memories of aliens attacking. And you… don’t look them.”

“Claire,” Namor sighed. “I have learned my lesson. I understand how to blend in.”

“Just. Promise me that you’ll go straight to the Avengers, and stay with them when you get there,” she insisted. 

“I will,”

  
  


“CABIN!”

“What?”

“C-A-B-I-N! Cabin!” Peter exclaimed, playing some game on his phone as he lounged on a couch in the common room. Tony stared at the kid like he was crazy; and sometimes he really wondered. 

“Am I supposed to know what that means?” Tony asked, standing just in front of the couch, which he’d intended to walk past without interacting to go to the kitchen.

“I’m playing Words With Friends, Mr. Stark,” Peter commented. _“Kicking Ned’s ass…”_ he mumbled out.

“That’s nice. When are you going home, Peter?” Tony asked the kid. Peter was a brave young man, and a damn good superhero, but sometimes Tony wondered why he even recruited the kid. He was fond of Peter; more than he wanted to admit; but the kid was a lot, sometimes. Peter looked at Tony with wide eyes, frowning a bit.

“I thought you said I could stay!” Peter complained.

“I said if it’s alright with _May_ , you can stay,” Tony replied. “I don’t seem to recall May giving her permission. And you’re acting like this is your own personal vacation home; and _get your shoes off of the couch_.”

“I’m gonna go home when school starts,” Peter commented sheepishly, slowly moving his feet to the floor and kicking off his sneakers.

“Fine. Kinda like having you around, anyway,” Tony muttered, which made Peter smile a little. “You seen Lena?”

“Hm? No, I haven’t,” Peter replied, swiping away at his phone. 

“Hmm. That’s strange,” Tony said.

“What?” Peter asked.

“Haven’t seen her around here in a few days. I figured she went home, but she didn’t say anything, and she’s offline,” Tony replied. Peter’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Tony nervously. Tony lifted a brow, crossing his arms. “You know something.”

“Huh?” Peter gulped.

“Spill it, Spider-boy,” Tony grilled him.

“No! I dunno, I just… she seemed kinda, um… you know, like, angry, and then I think she, like... left,” Peter rambled out, shaking his head. 

“You _think_? Or you know?” Tony pushed.

“C’mon, Mr. Stark, I don’t know anything. I just know she was kinda feeling like she had to answer to you… for a lot of stuff, and, like, she seemed angry, and she went to her lab, but that was a few days ago, I dunno…” Peter rambled. 

“And that was the last time you saw her….” Tony pushed.

“Swear to god,” Peter nodded, wincing a little.

“... What was that?” Tony asked.

“What? Nothing!” Peter shook his head.

“But… why was she angry? She doesn’t have to answer to me,” Tony commented.

“ _Well_ …” Peter shrugged.

“Are you saying I’m overbearing?”

“Noooo. It’s just that she has feelings… feelings… um,” Peter winced, shaking his head. “I don’t know what I’m talking about. She doesn’t tell me anything. Okay?”

“Oh, come on, she tells you _everything_ ,” Tony scoffed. 

“ _Okay, okay._ I can only tell you… that … I think, it has to do with her feelings for someone. Like, _romantically_. And, maybe she thinks you’ll be angry with her, and she thinks that’s not fair. Like, to her… or to the... person,” Peter relented, biting his lip after the words spilled out; he felt a little guilty for saying them, but simultaneously relieved to not have it on his chest anymore. Tony squinted at him, arms crossed over his chest as if he didn’t like what he’d just heard. 

“So, you’re saying she ran off with this… _person_?” Tony asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Peter replied, shaking his head.

“But, she _did_ ,” Tony inferred.

“... I don’t know, Mr. Stark, _I swear_ ,” Peter replied. Which was true. He didn’t know, for sure.

“Do you know who it is?” Tony pushed.

“C’mon, Mr. Stark, I’m telling you, I don’t know…” Peter pleaded with him. Tony eyed him for awhile, then he shrugged.

“Alright, fine,” he said, and he walked towards the kitchen, leaving Peter sitting there to stew in his guilt. Tony’s mind raced with worry, wondering who his daughter could’ve run off with. And why she wouldn’t have told him she was in love with someone. And why she thought he’d be angry. His mind conjured up images of all sorts of bad news types; thugs and criminals, warlords and kingpins. He even, for a moment, imagined that it might be _Justin Hammer_ ; though he shook that thought from his head almost as soon as it’d come to him. Lena wouldn’t be caught dead with a man like _that_. 

“Friday,” Tony spoke in hushed tones to the AI. “Is Lena’s online, yet?”

“No, sir. Sorry,” Friday replied. Tony sighed, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of juice. He opened it, took a swig, and then it hit him. Suddenly. Like a ton of bricks. There was _someone else_ he hadn’t seen around the facility in a while, too. And while he generally avoided this person’s presence, it seemed like nobody had seen him.

“Friday… locate _Sergeant James Barnes_ ,” he said, his heart racing in his chest.

“Sorry, sir. I can’t do that,” Friday replied.

“ _No_ ,” Tony exhaled. He felt dizzy, suddenly. Like his legs might give out and he might hit the floor. “ _No, no, no_ … Friday, why can’t you locate Sergeant Barnes?”

“Sergeant Barnes has requested to keep his location unknown,” Friday replied. Tony shook his head. It couldn’t be him. _It couldn’t be_. It was just a coincidence. It had to be.

“Friday, where’s Steve Rogers?” Tony asked, holding his breath, as if that would help his heart stop its racing. 

“Captain Rogers is in Sam Wilson’s room,” Friday responded, and almost as fast as the AI had replied, Tony Stark was rushing off to Sam Wilson’s room to find Steve, his juice abandoned on the kitchen counter.

 

When he got to Sam’s room, the door was locked, and Tony cursed under his breath, his fist slamming into the door.

“ROGERS!” he yelled, banging on the door a few times. He could hear hushed voices behind the door, and then movement, and moments later, the door opened, Steve standing in the door, hair disheveled and exasperation on his face.

“Yeah… Tony,” Steve said, clearing his throat a little.

“What are you-” Tony started, glaring at Steve a little. 

“ _Nothing_ ,” Steve said, running a hand through his messy hair, stepping out of the room and closing the door quickly behind him. “What do you want?”

“Where’s your friend?” Tony asked, anger in his voice, his heart racing.

“Sam’s just…” Steve started, _stuttered_ , gesturing to the door behind him. “We were just-”

“Not Sam. Your other friend,” Tony scoffed, glaring at the supersoldier.

“Oh…” Steve’s eyes widened a little.

“ _Oh_ ,” Tony nodded. “Where is he?”

“... The thing is… I don’t know,” Steve said apologetically. “We’ve been… we’ve been trying to contact him. But, it’s okay. I figured he just needed some space. There’s no need to get the UN involved, I’m sure he’ll come back.”

“How long… has he been missing, Steve?” Tony asked.

“Oh, _no_ … did he do something?” Steve asked. Tony sighed. “It’s not his fault, Tony. Look, Sam and I will-”

“Steve, I think he’s with my- I think he’s with Lena,” Tony said, his voice suddenly helpless and soft, his brown eyes connecting with Steve’s.

“You think he’s… what makes you think that?” Steve asked, his arms crossing. He’d wondered the same thing, himself, but he couldn’t let Tony know that. He wasn’t sure who he’d be betraying, if he did. The lines of betrayal were getting really hard to track.

“I dunno. Peter said she was angry because she didn’t think I’d approve of someone that she… that she likes _romantically_ ,” Tony replied, his tone anxious. “And, I just, I haven’t seen her in days, and Friday can’t locate her, and she’s not answering my calls. And the only person I can think of that would be so bad she’d think she’d have to run away rather than tell me is your… _Bucky_.” He’d said the guys name with a level of disgust he hadn’t meant to. It wasn’t that Steve didn’t know of his disdain for the guy. It was that he had been working hard to try to be civil. To try to understand that _Bucky_ and the _Winter Soldier_ were two different people. That Bucky was sorry for what he’d done, and had no control over it. But the man still killed his parents. The man _murdered_ his mother, an _innocent_ , while going after his father. And the thought of this man being with his only child, his own flesh and blood, was threatening to make him physically sick. 

“Okay… Tony, calm down,” Steve said, in that sickeningly calm tone he got when he tried to be the voice of reason.

“It is. It’s him, isn’t it,” Tony inferred, his brows furrowed as he stared at Steve in disbelief. “And you _knew_.”

“I didn’t know that they ran off together. I knew that he had feelings for her, and I told him not to go there, Tony. I swear I did,” Steve explained, his voice so calm that it made Tony angry. 

“How long have you known, Steve,” Tony scoffed, shaking his head.

“... Okay,” Steve exhaled. “I’ve… sort of known how he felt since I brought him back here. I’ve known about the two of them for, I dunno, maybe a week.”

“A _week_?” Tony yelled.

“I’m sorry,” Steve winced.

“Wait a minute. What do you mean you’ve known about the two of them? You’re telling me they’re a _thing_?” Tony asked angrily. Steve nodded solemnly.

“I think so…” he replied apologetically.

“And… when he disappeared at the same time as her, you didn’t think anything of it?” Tony asked.

“No, honestly, I didn’t. Lena’s not the type to-”

“Don’t tell me about my daughter. _I know_ my daughter. I don’t know what kind of _monster_ you brought in here for her to run off with!” Tony yelled.

“Bucky’s not a monster, Tony. He’s a prisoner of war and a victim of Hydra’s unethical experimentation,” Steve insisted, defending his friend. “And, I don’t think, if they went off together, that he has any ill intentions for her.”

“ _No, no, no, no, I don’t wanna think about his intentions_ ,” Tony groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, the thought of his daughter with that man literally unbearable. 

“I- I didn’t mean it that way,” Steve said apologetically. “I just meant that she’s _safe_.”

“Why is this happening? Why would she do this?” Tony shook his head, his face in his hands. 

“Tony, you have to give her space to make her own decisions. Even if you don’t like them. She’s an adult,” Steve started, but Tony looked up from his hands, glaring at the older, younger man.

“I don’t want advice from you. We aren’t friends. That’s clear to me, Rogers. This is the second time you lied to me to protect this man. Every time I start to trust you, you show me why I shouldn’t,” Tony barked.

“Tony. You’re overreacting. She _fell in love_. He’s not killing her. This isn’t the same thing, and it wasn’t my secret to tell,” Steve protested.

“I’m her _father_!” Tony yelled. “I’m her father, Steve. And she’s not _in love_ with him. Don’t say that. She just… she doesn’t date, she’s a little infatuated. That’s all. Yeah. Yeah, he’s good looking and new and she…”

“You can’t really believe we’re not friends…” Steve huffed, shaking his head. “Tony, I’m _really trying_ , here, but what do you want me to do? Report to you every time I know a secret about Lena? Is her friendship not worth anything? Only yours?”

“I trust you to come to me when Lena is making a decision that puts her in danger,” Tony said sharply, his finger pointing at Steve. “You let her run off with a known assassin, who has a known capacity to be turned against the people he loves the most.”

“Princess Shuri deprogrammed him. He’s not turning against Lena, or anyone else,” Steve insisted.

“Do we know that? Have we tested him?” Tony rejected the idea.

“ _Shuri_ tested him. Her science is solid,” Steve replied. Tony eyed him for a moment, his arms crossing, again, as he considered what to do. If he went to find them, Lena might actually hate him, or never trust him again. But the thought of her with him, he couldn’t take. 

“Alright, I need your help,” Tony muttered, his eyes faltering a bit. “Help me find them.”

“... Maybe you should just give them some time, Tony,” Steve offered. “You were young, once. You know how they feel, right now.”

“ _He’s not young_!” Tony yelled; another thing that sickened him about the whole thing. This man was older than he was. _Way_ older. The thought of this man with his young, naive daughter- he couldn’t stand it.

“Physically… mentally, he is,” Steve reasoned. “I mean, come on, do _I look 100 years old_? Am I _anything_ like the hundred-year-old people you’ve ever seen? I’ve talked to Buck about it, and he said he feels the same age he was when he got taken prisoner. And he feels that it’s not fair to treat him like he’s this hundred-year-old man because he doesn’t even remember those years and was frozen for most of them, and Tony, I can’t say I disagree with him. For all intents and purposes, he’s a _young_ man, in love with a _young_ woman.”

“Okay, but that young woman is _MY DAUGHTER_ , Steve! And… what if they don’t come back? Huh?” Tony yelled, his voice softening a bit at the end. Steve could tell he was scared. More than anything, he was scared. Scared to lose his daughter. Scared that he maybe already had; and to the worst person he could’ve lost her to. To the same person he lost his parents to. Steve understood. He really did. 

“They’ll come back, Tony,” Steve sighed, looking at him with empathy in his blue eyes. Tony shook his head, his eyes falling away from. “... Where would Lena go? We’ll start there.”

“God, I don’t even know,” Tony sighed, rubbing a hand over his face as he shook his head.

“Did you check her apartment?” Steve asked calmly. Tony looked at him.

“You think she just went home?” Tony asked.

“I don’t think she’d go far. She’s too dedicated to the team,” Steve nodded.

  
  


Namor left under the cover of night. Claire had brought him a grey hoodie to wear, and dark jeans to cover his long, slender legs, and a pair of white sneakers with blue stripes. She said he’d blend in with the city dwellers if he used the hood to hide his pointed ears and gills. He promised Claire that he’d come back to her when all was said and done, and he hoped against hope that it would be sooner, rather than later. The last thing he wanted was to bring Claire any trouble. Perhaps the Avengers would have some answers, and everything could be resolved quickly. Perhaps he’d _find_ them sooner rather than later.

He had only walked a few blocks, when he realized he was being followed. 

There were two of them behind him. He couldn’t quite get a read on who exactly was following him, and for what purpose, but he felt their presence, and his feet began to move faster against the concrete. He didn’t exactly know where he was going. Claire told him to get to Grand Central Station and get a train upstate. It was a slow way to travel, but also the best way to get out of the city and stay under the radar. Only he seemed to have gotten on _someone’s_ radar. It crossed his mind that maybe he was just going to be mugged, but when he turned down a side street, his tail followed.

So, he stopped. And the two sets of footsteps he heard behind him stopped, too. 

“Friends,” he said, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder. “If you continue following me, I will assume you mean me harm.” He could finally see the figures behind him. Two men, each wearing a different elaborate costume. One seemed to be black and yellow leather, head to toe, and a black visor. The other, a dusty red leather jacket and denim pants. Namor sighed to himself as he turned to face them. The men stood their ground, their faces displaying a misplaced sort of bravery that told Namor that they did, _indeed_ , mean him harm.

“Sub-Mariner?” the one in black and yellow asked. Namor let out a long breath, his eyes shifting to the man.

“My name is Namor,” he replied.

“You are trespassing in this city,” the one in red said, his fists raising to a fight-ready stance. They intended to fight him. It was tedious. 

“Ah. Then you will be happy to know that I have located the Avengers and will be leaving your city as soon as possible,” Namor announced to the two, giving them a slight nod. 

“We can’t let you do that,” the one in black and yellow said, reaching behind himself and pulling out a baton, which he whipped in Namor’s direction. The end of the thing whipped forward, extending from the part the man held, tethered to it with some sort of elastic cable. Namor dodged the blow, looking at the man in disbelief.

“What?” Namor puzzled. The red jacket man reached hands into his pockets, pulling out what Namor thought were two guns and pointing them at him.

“The Avengers protect this planet. We’re gonna protect _them_ ,” the man said, firing at him. But what came from the gun wasn’t bullets. The were small discs that adhered themselves to the front of Namor’s hoodie, and burred into his skin. The discs sent electricity coursing through Namor’s body, and he groaned in agony, falling to his knees, his eyes glaring up at the men in anger.

“Who are you? What do you want with Earth?” the one wearing black and yellow asked, approaching Namor swiftly.

“ _Why… are… you… attacking … me_?” Namor growled, the discs shocking him.

“Why isn’t he going down, Volt?” the black and yellow one asked his compatriot.

“I dunno,” the one red answered nervously. Namor pulled one of the discs from his chest with his fingers, groaning as he did. “ _Holy shit_!"

“Shoot him again,” the black and yellow one said. So the one in red pointed the blaster at him again, and shot at him, but Namor caught the disc in his hand, crushing it as he stood to his feet. The two men took steps away from him, both of them watching in disbelief as he stood to his feet, pulling the last disc from his chest. 

“The Avengers sent you?” Namor growled, glaring at the men. The one in black and yellow whipped the baton at him again, but Namor grabbed the end of it, jerking the guy forward. “You tell the Avengers this. There is _no man_ on this planet who can protect them from me,” Namor growled, grasping the guy by the throat. Then, he sent all of the electricity that he’d absorbed from the discs through his hand, electrocuting the guy until his body went limp. 

“ _SHIT_!” the one in red yelled, cowering in fear when Namor glared in his direction. The guy held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t kill me!” Namor dropped his friend, and he stalked towards the red-jacket wannabe, his ocean-colored eyes glaring at him.

“You tell them if they want me, they should come for me themselves,” Namor growled at the man. He nodded frantically in response, his eyes wide. Namor glanced at the one in black and yellow, his body limp on the ground. He let out a sigh. He hadn’t come to the surface to hurt random people. He wasn’t proud of it. “... He’ll live,” he assured the one in red. 

Then he took flight, again. He knew that flying was probably the most conspicuous way to get away, but the guys hadn’t left him much choice. Of course, he couldn’t get far, by flying. His flight didn’t work that way, and he hadn’t used it often enough to know what his limits were. So, instead of flying to find the Grand Central Station, he flew back towards Claire’s building. He wasn’t sure why. He couldn’t bring the trouble back to her. He _wouldn’t_ bring it to her. But he needed to regroup, and Claire’s place was the closest thing to _home_. He landed himself on the roof, his feet touching the concrete gently as he brought himself down. And he winced as he opened the hoodie, his fingers running over the areas where the discs had stuck into his skin. And he watched as the reddish burns that they left slowly disappeared. His body was functioning in peak condition, thanks to Claire’s care. 

He sat down on the concrete floor of the roof, and he let out a long, exasperated breath. He didn’t want to hate the surface-dwellers, but they sure seemed to hate him. And now, he wasn’t sure what to make of the Avengers. Of the men who had _attacked him_ in their name. 

And for the first time, he wondered if this whole mission would be in vain. And how he’d face his people, when he returned with no answers, and no solutions. 

  
  


_ “Disturbing video, this morning, of an attack on a city street last night in the wee hours of the morning. The video shows two vigilantes attempting to take down what authorities believe to be same suspect from the attack on the Avengers museum. Cell phone video from a nearby apartment shows the assailant, known only as Namor, choking one of the vigilantes with what appears to be some sort of electrical superpower or device, before fleeing the scene. We warn our viewers, again, that this footage is disturbing,” _

 

Lena sat on the foot of her bed, staring at her TV in disbelief as she watched the footage of Namor, the man the Avengers had a meeting about the week before, easily taking down the street-level vigilante team known as Volt and Badger. Lena knew of them, because the Avengers made it their business to keep track of as many powered people, and non-powered vigilantes, as possible. Volt and Badger weren’t well known, but they weren’t scrubs, either. They’d done a fair job of cleaning up some of the crime in Manhattan.

She sat on the bed cross-legged, wearing one of Bucky’s T-shirts and nothing else, her messy afro pulled up lazily in a bun on the top of her head. Bucky had been in the shower, in the en-suite bathroom. They’d been holed up in her apartment for days, doing nothing but watching movies and, well, _each other_. Now, seeing Namor cause even more trouble in the city, Lena was beginning to feel guilty. Her father was right about one thing. When she became Ironheart, she’d made a deal with the world to protect it. Namor, whatever he was, was her responsibility. And she was in Manhattan. 

_ Ironheart needed to return to work.  _

She heard the shower stop, and soon after, Bucky emerged from the bathroom, a towel around his waist, his dark hair wet and messily hanging just past his shoulders. She glanced at him.

“Hey,” he smiled, walking over to the bed. He kissed her on the cheek, before flopping down onto the bed beside her.

“ _Namor_ ,” she said.

“Huh?” he asked, sliding her into his arms, his metal one warm from having been in the shower.

“Buck,” she glanced at him. “He’s back. That Namor guy.”

“Oh _no_ , … is the city under attack again?” Bucky asked, frowning automatically, as if going back into battle was the last thing he wanted to do. Hell, it was the last thing _Lena_ wanted to do. 

“I dunno. Seems like he just attacked Volt and Badger,” Lena said.

“Who's that?” Bucky asked, his flesh fingers tracing over her spine gently as he lay back on the bed.

“Just some… New York vigilantes,” she commented. “We have to find him.”

“What? Why us?” Bucky complained, his fingers stopping mid-back. She glanced at him.

“I have a duty. And so do you. We’re the only Avengers in the city,” she said.

“I don’t think I’m technically an Avenger,” he replied. Lena gave him a look, so he sighed. “Okay. You’re right, we should go check it out.” Lena sighed, nodding a little, and she leaned down to give him a soft kiss.

“I know it sucks. I’m sorry,” she said, standing from the bed. She walked to her drawers, pulling out a pair of blue underwear and sliding them on.

“What, _right this second_?” Bucky asked.

“As soon as we can,” she replied dutifully. 

“But, my hair is wet,” he groaned. Lena chuckled. “Can you comb it for me?” he asked, smiling to himself as he watched her slide on a pair of jeans.

“Get dressed, Barnes,” she ordered him. Bucky chuckled.

“Alright, alright,” he sat up, brushing fingers through his wet hair before standing from the bed. “This guy is pretty formidable. You have weapons?”

“Of course I have weapons,” Lena scoffed, tossing him a pair of his underwear, which she’d bought for him. “Suit up.” she said, going into her walk in closet to get the case that held the few guns she had in her apartment.

“I like big guns,” Bucky called after her, amusing Lena.

“I don’t have big guns. Make do,” she replied, coming out of the closet with the silver case. Bucky had already slipped into the boxer briefs she bought him; which she thought looked _incredible_ on him. He took the case from her, sitting it on her dresser and opening it. It contained four sleekly-designed semi-automatic pistols. Bucky nodded a little.

“These’ll do,” he said, picking one up with his vibranium hand and weighing it carefully.

“You like? I designed them,” she smiled. “They’re not regular guns. They actually shoot a highly concentrated energy blast, like a laser, you know? I’m trying to perfect a version of the ones from the Star Wars movies. Actually, the spears, you know? In Wakanda? They have a tech that I’d love to get my hands on, but T’Challa-”

“Lena?” Bucky stopped her.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up,” he laughed, and it caught Lena off guard, because people usually let her ramble, but she actually laughed, too.

“Sorry,” she grinned sheepishly, blushing. “I’m a nerd.”

“As long as they shoot,” Bucky said, putting the gun back into the case.

“They shoot,” she smiled proudly, patting his ass. “Go get dressed, hot stuff. Let’s go kick some Atlantean ass.”


	9. Collide

It was morning, and the city was already bustling. Namor could hear the sounds of the horns from cars passing by, and the voices of people yelling at each other on the streets below. New York was certainly a noisy city. He hated the idea of bringing his trouble back to Claire, so he didn’t. He had spent the night on the roof of her apartment building; an uncomfortable way to sleep, but a place where he had the least chance of being disturbed by any ragtag vigilantes. The sound of the city below annoyed him, at first. The surface-dwellers were starting to become a bigger nuisance than he anticipated. But, then he realized that he could use them to his advantage; perhaps it would be easier to blend in with them during the light of day.

Namor glanced over the ledge of the roof, his eyes taking in the people as they passed by the building. It was a warm day. None of them seemed to be wearing hoodies, or any sort of jackets. Nonetheless, Namor knew that wearing the hoodie Claire had given him was probably his best option. So, he found his way to the side of the building that faced the alley, and he scaled down the side of the wall, landing on a fire escape just below him. The stairs attached to the fire escape, he noticed, led down to another fire escape, and another, and eventually led down to the ground. He could’ve easily just flown himself to the ground, but going down the fire escape seemed much more inconspicuous. 

When his feet finally touched the ground, Namor pulled the hood up around his head, and he walked out of the alley as casually as he could. The people didn’t even seem to notice him, which was good. He had just enough money to purchase a ticket at Grand Central Station to take him upstate, where he hoped to find the Avengers; it occurred to him that he had no idea where exactly Grand Central Station was. Nonetheless, he kept walking. He knew that if he found a subway station, he could just follow the map posted on the wall. And just as he thought, there was a subway station a few blocks up. Actually, there were four entrances, one at every corner. Namor looked at the entrances, tried to make sense of them. He wasn’t sure which one would be the best to take. 

There was a newsstand just before the corner that he was standing on. He knew he’d have to take the risk to ask the man who stood inside the box peddling the periodicals and bottled drinks. Asking for directions was risky. There was always the possibility that someone would recognize his face. Or that someone would notice the things that were different about him and freak out. Claire was right about him looking different from the surface-dwellers. He approached the newsstand, his hand on the counter as he leaned in to talk to the man.

“Pardon me. Which station do I take if I need to get to Grand Central Station?” he asked, his oddly colored, shimmery blue eyes looking up at the man.

“Buy somethin’ first,” the burly-looking man said indifferently, barely looking at Namor; as if he were a bother.

“What?” Namor asked, confused by the man’s demeanor. 

“Do I look like Google Maps? I gotta make a livin’, man. Buy somethin’ or get lost,” the news man said, glancing indifferently at the prince of Atlantis. Namor stared at him for a moment, trying his best not to become angry at the man’s disrespect. After all, he was correct. This was his way to make a living.

“Sell me water,” Namor said after a moment, so the man took a cold bottle of water out of the case, and put it on the counter.

“Two bucks,” he said. Namor fished the money that Claire had given him out of his pocket. He rolled off a twenty, placing it on the counter. The man took the money, and opened his cash register, counting out a handful of bills and handing them back to Namor. Namor took the money cautiously, his eyes studying the man curiously. “You don’t want this line, here. If you take the E toward Jamaica Center, you can get off at Lexington and switch to the 6 at 51st. That’ll take you right to Grand Central.”

“Thank you,” Namor said, shoving the bills into the pocket of his hoodie, and grasping the cold water. He opened the bottle and took a swig. Refreshing. He made a note to buy bottled water along the way. It was a warm day, and he’d need the fresh water.

“Get on at 50 Street. Couple blocks up,” the man said, his eyes studying Namor curiously. Namor wondered if he’d been _recognized_. He nodded at the man, and began to make his way towards the Metro station that the man had indicated. 

The man watched him walk away for a while, then he picked up a cell phone, typing in a number and pressing the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, hello? _I think I just talked to that guy from the news_. The alien, or whatever,”

 

“He’s been spotted in Hell’s Kitchen,” Lena said to Bucky, looking over a holoscreen computer in her bedroom. Bucky stood just behind her, his eyes studying the screen; as fascinated by the technology as he was focused on the task. Lena’s screen showed a rolling transcription of police radio chatter, and a detailed map of the area. “Here,” she said, pointing at a place on the map.

“Let’s go,” Bucky said, shoving one of the guns she’d given him in the waist of his jeans. Lena nodded, and she summoned her armor out of the Ironheart necklace that she wore, the nanoparticles bleeding out of the necklace and expertly forming around her thin frame.

“Friday,” Lena said, once the cowl had covered her head completely.

“Yes, Lena,” the AI said, coming back online.

“Give me the map,” she said, smirking when the same map of Hell’s Kitchen appeared in her visor. “He’s headed towards 50 Street,” Lena said, closing out the holoscreen.

“Uh. You gonna _fly_ me there?” Bucky asked curiously, looking at the Ironheart suit apprehensively. It wasn’t that he was necessarily opposed to her carrying him to the location. It was just that it felt a little… _weird_. Lena looked at him, her metal-clad hands landing at her metal-clad hips, and she chuckled a little.

“I got a better idea,” she said.

 

The _better idea_ , it turns out, was that Lena had a dope motorcycle parked in the garage of her building. She took Bucky down to the garage, the suit neatly collected into the necklace so as not to alarm any neighbors they might run into, and walked him to the motorcycle, which she said she didn’t drive often.

“My dad hates it,” she said. “Says it’s dangerous. Which is hilarious, considering what I do for a living. Motorcycle is too dangerous, but fighting Ultron is just fine.” She chuckled a little, but Bucky was already fascinated by the bike. “It was a Kawasaki, but I modified it a lot.” 

“It’s great,” Bucky said, running his vibranium fingers over the black paint carefully.

“ _Hey_. Don’t scratch it,” she complained.

“Relax,” Bucky chuckled, smirking at her. “Where are the keys?” he asked. Lena smiled, shaking her head.

“No keys. Get on,” she said, and he did, sitting down on the machine. Lena placed a small, button shaped device behind Bucky’s ear, brushing his hair out of the way to do so. It stuck to his skin, which surprised Bucky- he touched it with his flesh hand. She chuckled, pecking his lips softly. “It’s your helmet. Just… tell it to go on.”

“How?” Bucky asked, but nearly as soon as he did, nanoparticles bled out of the button, and a sleek, black helmet formed around his head, blue lines indicating where the visor was. The front of the helmet Bucky could see through, but there was information on the visor. Like it was a computer screen. Like the one in Lena’s apartment.

“Now, you can see what I see,” she said, smiling at him.

“You designed this?” he asked, amazed, again, by this woman.

“Mhm,” she nodded. “Now, start the bike.” Bucky shrugged.

“Okay, uh… start?” he said, and the bike started. He smirked. “She _is_ a genius.”

“So, it’s going to read the synapses of your brain, and you can control the helmet with just your thoughts. But for the bike, you need verbal commands. I dunno, just seems safer,” she said. 

“I love this,” he said, looking at her. She smiled at him.

“Good,” she said, the Ironheart suit forming around her once again. “Let’s go, _White Wolf._ ” As soon as she’d said it, she flew towards the garage door, the metal door opening as if she’d commanded it it. Bucky wondered if she’d modified _that_ , too. He smirked, and drove the motorcycle after her.

“After you, Ironheart.” 

 

Tony had been going out of his mind with worry, since figuring out that his daughter had quite possibly run off with the _worst man she could’ve chosen_. Steve, however, had convinced him to stay at the facility until they could get a clear picture of where the two might have gone. Tony was convinced they were at Lena’s place; he figured Steve was just trying to delay him. That’s why he had Friday monitoring Lena’s Ironheart suit. If she suited up, the suit would come online, and he’d find her. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he got the notification. The holoscreen on his watch opened, and he finally knew where his baby girl had gone. The suit was in the city, traveling towards Hell’s Kitchen from Chelsea. _She had been at home the whole time._

“Rogers,” Tony called to Steve, who was studying something tactical with Bruce on the other side of the room. Steve looked to Tony. “I found them.”

“You did? Where?” Steve said, making his way towards Tony. Tony shifted the holoscreen in front of him, enlarging it for Steve and Bruce to see.

“Manhattan. I think she’s going after that _Namor_ guy,” Tony said.

“That’s good. Now you know where they are,” Bruce commented, watching from his workstation.

“We still don’t know that they’re together,” Steve pointed out.

“Yeah we do. Where else would he be?” Tony said, starting towards the door. “Friday, see if you can get a visual. I wanna see what she sees.”

“Linking the Ironheart suit now, sir,” Friday said. Tony watched as Lena flew above the city, watching her periodically look down at someone on her motorcycle. _Barnes._ It was definitely Barnes. Steve followed Tony out of the door, walking with him as he made his way to the hangar to take a quinjet.

“Tony,” Steve called after him.

“It’s him, Steve,” Tony muttered, opening the hatch to the hangar.

“So, you’re going to run them down, and what? _Ground_ her? Take away her phone privileges?” Steve asked incredulously. Tony stopped, turning to glare at Steve, but the supersoldier seemed unmoved.

“I dunno. I’ll think of something when I get there,” Tony said. “Besides, if she’s going after this Namor guy, they’re going to need backup.”

“Wait. I’ll come with you,” Steve offered.

“I’m going, too,” they heard Sam’s voice say. Tony watched as Sam emerged from behind Steve. He let out a sigh.

“Sam,” 

“Where he goes, I go,” Sam said, already wearing his flight gear. Steve nodded a little, his eyes shifting back to Tony.

“Let us help. We’re a team,” the Captain said. Tony sighed, nodding.

“Fine. We go in, get Lena and Bucky, take out this Namor person, and leave,” Tony said. “And I’m not listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on the flight over, Sam.”

“It’s a good soundtrack,” Sam complained with a smirk as Tony made his way towards the quinjet. Steve chuckled a little, smiling at Sam before he followed behind Tony. “What? It is!” Sam insisted, following after Steve.

“I like it, too, Sam,” Steve relented. 

_“We are outgunned! Outmanned! Outnumbered, outplanned!”_ Sam rapped.

“I hope not,” Steve laughed.

“ _Wilson!_ I swear,” Tony scolded him, boarding the jet.

“Lin-Manuel Miranda is a national treasure!”

 

There was, maybe, something to love about the city, the more time Namor spent there. It _hummed_ with a certain spirit that made the place feel alive, in a way that Namor hadn’t really experienced before. People there, too, seemed to all carry the feeling that they were unique in some way, like they were invented just to be characters in this universe. Walking among them felt exciting. It made him understand why people moved to New York City. There were food vendors on every corner, and kids treating the streets like their own personal jungle gym. It was a world apart, from the life he knew in Atlantis. 

He had become fascinated with a group of children, maybe eight or nine, kicking a ball across the sidewalk; a lively game, as if they were real athletes in a serious competition. They were so filled with _joy_ and _innocence_ , and Namor fully understood the Avengers’ desire to protect that. He wanted no harm to come to those kids, either. Children were always the bright spot of any civilization.

One of the boys kicked the ball hard, and it went straight into the air. Namor watched with a slight smile as they struggled for the ball, but his smile faded as the ball landed in the street, bouncing a little before stopping just between the lanes of traffic. He watched as one of the smaller boys walked to the edge of the sidewalk. The other kids called to him, and told him to wait, but the smaller one still stepped out into the street. The image of the boy being struck by a vehicle flashed in Namor’s mind, and he knew he couldn’t let that happen. 

So, as the boy dove for the ball, Namor dashed to the street, and in the blink of an eye, he held the small boy in his arms, just in time for a city bus to swerve, just missing them. The bus crashed against a food cart, and stopped; people screamed. The small boy looked up at Namor in shock, his eyes wide.

“Are you alright?” Namor asked the child, sitting the boy down on his feet. He examined the boy for visible injury and saw none. Then the boy dashed away. And Namor stood to his feet and looked around. People were staring at him. _His hood had fallen down._ He couldn’t tell if they could recognize him from the news, or if they were simply horrified by his strange looks. His pointed ears. His gills. His superhuman abilities. 

“It’s him!” he heard a woman say from the sidewalk. When he looked in her direction, she cowered, stepping back as if she were afraid he’d hurt her.

“Please. I mean you all no harm,” he said calmly. But the police were already arriving, and soon they had their guns trained on him.

“Hands on your head,” a cop yelled, gun trained on Namor as if he were a common criminal. Namor followed the cop’s instructions, wary of being shot again. It was not a fun experience.

“I was merely saving a child,” Namor defended himself. 

“I want you to slowly get on your knees,” the cop continued. Namor let out a sigh, bored of this, already. It would’ve been easier to simply ignore these police and fly away, but it would’ve also been much more drama.

“I have done nothing wrong, here,” Namor said, cautiously lowering himself to his knees. 

“Look, whatever your name is. You’re under arrest for assault, property damage, and disturbing the peace,” the officer said, approaching Namor swiftly.

“Assault?” Namor scoffed, letting out an exasperated sigh as he allowed the officer to handcuff him. “That’s a bit ridiculous. I have only defended myself.”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” the officer began.

“I do not have time to be arrested,” Namor said calmly. The officer jerked him to his feet; Namor sighed audibly.

“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?” the officer continued.

“I am telling you that I decline to be arrested, officer,” Namor responded calmly. 

“Yeah, well, you don’t get to decline-” the officer started, his words catching in his throat as he watched Namor break the handcuffs and pull them off with ease. “Wha-”

“I am… very sorry, but I have to find and speak with the Avengers as soon as possible. If it’s better, I will return to this city when I am finished and make amends for the trouble I have caused,” he said, handing the warped and broken handcuffs back to the baffled police officer.

_“If you’re looking to speak with an Avenger, today’s your lucky day,”_ Namor heard a female voice say, metallic, as if spoken through some sort of speaker. He turned his head, looking up to see a red, metal person floating just above them, watching her as she landed just behind him and the officer.

“Are you the Ironheart?” he asked her; he’d done his research on the members of the Avengers team. This one, he remembered, was the offspring of the one they called Iron Man. Young, but savvy. He wondered, for a moment, why they hadn’t sent the best of their team, but this was a start.

“You know me?” she asked; he could tell that she was taking a biometric scan of his body with her mask. He took a step back from the officer, who quickly pulled his gun on the Atlantean again. “It’s alright, officer, we’ll take it from here.”

“We?” the officer asked.

“Me and the incredible one-armed man,” she replied, gesturing towards a glaring, long-haired man on a motorcycle, who’d just pulled up beside the police car. “Go check on the bus crash victims. We’ll give the prince a royal welcome.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the officer nodded, giving Namor a strange look before scurrying off towards the bus. 

“Finally,” Namor said, a relieved sigh leaving him. “I need to-” Namor started, before the young Avenger held a repulsor-clad hand up to his face. He wasn’t sure if she meant it as a threat, but he stood still, his ocean-colored eyes gazing at the metal woman in confusion.

“What do you want with New York City?” she asked. Namor glanced back at the man on the motorcycle, who had gotten off of the thing and was walking towards them, guns in both hands. Great. They intended to fight him, too.

“I want _nothing_ with this city. I need to speak with the Avengers. With you,” he clarified.

“Then, why do you keep attacking innocent people?” she asked, her repulsor still pointed dangerously close to his face.

“I have only defended myself,” he reiterated.

“Do you want me to take him out?” the long-haired man asked the girl. That was absolutely not an option. Namor had tried courtesy long enough. He turned to the man, and struck him right in the center of the chest, but the man was unmoved. His eyes widened and met the man’s sharp blue eyes, and when the man swung a metallic fist at his head, Namor dodged it, moving backwards. And he dodged the next one. And he grabbed the man’s fist as he swung it again, and pulled him forward, connecting his elbow with the man’s face.

He seemed stunned, but only for a moment, and then a look of anger came over the man’s face. Namor gasped, blocking the man’s blows as he came back at him; this man was nothing to play with, apparently.

Then, he heard a high-pitched sound, and he looked towards the Ironheart just as she fired a blast of some sort of energy at him. It sent him propelled backwards, and he crashed against the bus that had crashed earlier. He let out a groan, and peeled himself off of the bus, glaring at the girl in the metal suit.

“See, you coulda made this easy, but apparently you want to do things the hard way,” the Ironheart said, advancing towards him.

“ _Your_ soldier attacked _me_ ,” Namor growled, his ocean-colored eyes glaring at him. “You Avengers think you are the protectors of this planet, yet you use your power to rule as tyrants.”

“ _Tyrants?_ That’s a stretch,” she scoffed, firing another blast towards him. This time, Namor dashed away from it; his speed fast enough that the girl in the metal suit seemed surprised. “Oh. Superspeed. Yay.”

“You _attack_ what you don’t understand. You _protect_ only that which you love, while others suffer,” he continued.

“We protect everyone who needs protection. And we don’t ask for anything in return,” the girl defended the Avengers.

“You protect nothing!” he yelled, rage filling him. They really thought of themselves as they were billed. As Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He ran towards the metal suit, yelling in anger as his feet carried him towards her. And he was so fast, he was able to land a blow that sent the girl flying back and crashing into a building on the other side of the street.

“Lena!” the long-haired man with the metal arm yelled, running to check on her.

“You have aligned yourself with the wrong team, soldier. They are false idols. They help no one but themselves,” he said, stalking towards them slowly. Watching as the man pulled the girl from the broken window she’d crashed into. Watching the man glare at him. As he got closer, the man stood to his feet, his eyes angrily burring into Namor.

“Stay back,” he warned, his voice gruff. Namor’s eyes trained on the girl in the iron suit. She pushed out of the broken window and wall rubble slowly, but she did seem to be injured, and Namor felt a bit of remorse.

“Is she alright?” he asked the man coldly, his eyes shifting from the Ironheart to the man with the metal arm.

“I said _stay back_ ,” the man warned him, his hand grasping one of the guns at his waist. 

“I didn’t intend either of you any harm,” Namor said, his voice softening a bit. “Here. Let me-” his words were interrupted as a flying man swooped in and kicked him a few yards down the street. Namor skidded against the asphalt, his jeans and jacket ripping a bit. He looked back towards the Avengers he’d just fought; the flying man had large mechanical wings. _The Falcon_.

“Are you okay, Lena?” Sam asked Lena, helping her to her feet with Bucky. She nodded a little, clinging to Bucky a bit to steady herself.

“Yeah,” she said, pain in her voice.

“Buck?” Sam asked, eyeing him.

“We had it handled,” Bucky replied, his eyes glaring at Sam. Sam smirked a little.

“I’m sure you did,” he replied, just as Cap and Iron Man landed in front of the grounded Namor. Lena looked in the strange man’s direction, taking him in. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. He was unnaturally strong and fast. But there was also something kind or naive about him. 

“How did you find us?” Lena asked, opening the visor on her helmet to look at Sam.

“Tony pinged your suit,” Sam said, his eyes shifting between Bucky and Lena. He gave Bucky a small, knowing smirk, and Bucky chuckled a little, but Lena wasn’t amused. She didn’t want to hear what Tony had to say about this. Not in the slightest.

“Damn it,” she cursed under her breath.

 

“Iron Man,” Namor said, looking up at the metal-clad man standing above him. “Captain America,” he said to the other man, a blue tactical suit and cowl on his body, and a shield on his arm.

“Hello, _Namor_ ,” the Iron Man said, his voice decidedly displeased. “You hurt my daughter. Big mistake,” he said, pointing a hand in Namor’s direction, that quickly transformed into a rather large blaster.

“Tony!” the Captain stopped him. “He’s down. Let’s just take him in.”

“I will go willingly. You… are precisely the men I have come to the surface to see,” Namor said, relenting, if only for a moment. He would give these Avengers a chance to hear him out; a chance that Namor felt should not be wasted on the Iron Man’s immature daughter. If they could not come to an understanding, he would not be so easily moved. But he would give them a chance. 

“Fine, Princess Ariel. You’re coming with us,” the Iron Man said, his helmet particling away to reveal his face. The man looked angry, his brown eyes glaring at Namor as if he could kill him. Namor wasn’t sure if he liked this person, yet. “Cap, you deal with him. I’m gonna kill him,” the Iron Man said, before his helmet reformed around his head and he took off towards the sky. The Captain sighed, and he held out a hand to Namor, helping him up.

“Shouldn’t have knocked his daughter through a window,” the Captain said, before slapping some high-tech, metallic cuffs around Namor’s wrists.

“I said I would come willingly,” Namor objected. 

“Yeah. Don’t trust you, yet, buddy. Sorry,” the Captain said.

 

Lena winced as Sam helped her into a seat on the quinjet. Her eyes glanced towards her father, watching him emerge after having helped Steve secure the prisoner below deck. Bucky hung back, almost as if he were afraid to touch her or come close to her; afraid to let on that there was anything between them. Tony stared towards the front of the jet, as if he were considering what to say, or maybe as if he were too angry to think of anything nice to say. And Lena felt guilty. In a way, she felt like she was betraying her father. Betraying his trust, and betraying him by spending time with the worst possible man, in his eyes. She wanted to make it better, but she wasn’t sure how.

“Dad?” she called to him, her voice apologetic.

“Are you hurt?” he asked her; he still hadn’t looked at her.

“No, I… I’m okay. He just knocked the wind outta me,” she insisted. Tony scoffed a little. “I’m sorry. Okay?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said sternly. She sighed, her eyes shifting to Bucky. He was being that quiet, stalking Bucky, again. The man that hid in shadows and tried his best not to be seen; not to alarm anyone. She had almost forgotten that he lived this way, around the others. For the past week or so that they’d been together, they’d both been so free. Nothing about going back to the facility felt like freedom. She felt like just as much of a prisoner as Namor was. 

“You don’t have… the right to be angry with me, Daddy,” she said matter-of-factly, her eyes staring at her father’s back. He chuckled dryly, and he glanced back at her, his eyes so full of disappointment that it stung. “That’s not fair.”

“Lena… don’t push him,” Sam advised her. She gave him a look, securing herself into the seat. “Bucky, strap yourself in,” he told her lover; he boyfriend. Bucky just nodded, picking a seat across from her.

“Where’s Steve?” Bucky asked, his voice low and hoarse. 

“Down with that Namor guy, I guess,” Sam replied.

“Friday. Take us home,” Tony told the AI.

“Certainly, sir,” the AI replied. Lena’s eyes studied Bucky as they took off, but even he wouldn’t look at her. It felt strange. It angered her. It felt like waking up from the best dream and realizing you still have to get up and go to school. Okay, so Lena sort of loved school, but it felt the way she imagined that felt to other kids. She didn’t want the fairytale to end, yet. It sort of annoyed her that it felt like Bucky did. 

 

“Did you have sex with him?” Tony asked Lena as she limped towards the medical hall in the facility to get herself checked out. She stopped in her tracks when she heard the question. She thought she’d be scared if her father ever asked her something like that. That she’d be so afraid of his judgment that her heart would race in her chest and she’d stutter out a plea for forgiveness. Instead, the question filled her with anger. They were in the open, standing in the middle of the building where anyone could’ve heard. They’d barely been off of the plane, barely secured Namor in a holding room before he was invading her privacy by asking about what she’d done with Bucky. She turned to look at him, anger in her eyes as she held her ribcage. She was sort of in pain. She was in pain, and he was asking her if she had sex with some guy.

“What?” she scoffed, glaring at her father, but Tony’s glare matched hers, and it sort of shook some of the bass out of her voice. He was still her father. 

“You heard me. Did you have sex with him?” Tony asked again, his tone unwavering.

“With who? With Bucky? Yeah, Dad. I did,” she admitted angrily, making sure he was aware how ridiculous she felt the question was. “Multiple times. And it’s none of your goddamn business, honestly.”

“It’s none of my- You had sex with the Winter Soldier?” Tony scoffed, stepping towards her with anger in his eyes. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I love him,” she said proudly, defending herself. “It’s not just sex. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“He killed your grandparents, Lena. Or did you forget that,” Tony scolded her, his voice hushed. “You love him?” he said in disgust, his eyes full of anguish. Lena’s eyes dropped away from his. She didn’t want to see how much it hurt him. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him.

“He didn’t- it wasn’t-... It wasn’t his fault,” she stuttered out, knowing how empty those words probably sounded to her father.

“Yeah, but he did it, Lena. And not just them. He killed maybe hundreds of people over seven decades,” Tony continued, his eyes pleading with her to see the light. “I get it; he’s a good looking guy, but of all the people, Lena. Of all the guys in the world you could’ve had, you choose this one?”

“Do you honestly think it’s because he’s good looking?”

“He’s a murderer! And I- I don’t approve. I won’t have it,” Tony said sternly.

“You won’t have it? I have to do what you say, now? Is that it?” she scoffed. It wasn’t that she didn’t see her father’s perspective. In fact, his perspective had been her biggest concern in all of this. But the idea of not following her heart because her dad might be upset really bothered her. It was the kind of restriction she’d never really felt, with Tony. He’d done nothing but encourage her creativity, inspire her freedom, her individuality. She considered that, after Thanos, they all were a little weary, a little afraid that things would go horribly wrong again. That they’d lose each other, again. But, after Thanos, she also didn’t want to lose herself. She wanted to live, and live fully and freely and on her own terms. She didn’t think she could do that and spend her time worrying about what her father wanted. 

“I’m not… saying that. I… I want you to use your head. You spent, what, a week with this guy and you’re already telling me you love him? You can’t know that. It doesn’t work like that,” Tony complained.

“Sometimes it does. I’d argue most of the time. Just because people are afraid to say it-”

“God, you can be so goddamn naive, sometimes!” Tony yelled, taking a step away from her, and a deep breath to calm himself. “Can you give this thing a second thought? For me, Lena,” Tony said, his voice low, pleading.

“... No, Daddy,” she said apologetically. “I… I’ve never felt like this before. About anyone. And… I’m sorry, but I think I owe it to myself to see it through.” Tony looked away, his fists balling and unballing as if he were trying to relieve his anxiety, his disappointment with the situation. “I… I need to go get looked at. Just… please promise me you won’t start anything with Bucky.”

“I’m not promising you that,” Tony said, his voice cold.

“Dad…” Lena pleaded, but Tony was unwavering, his eyes still refusing to look at her. Lena was hurt. Nervous that this was only the beginning. But she could sense that the conversation was over, in Tony’s eyes, so she didn’t push. “Fine. I’ll keep him away from you, then,” she said, before limping her way towards the medical hall.

“Yeah, you do that,” he said behind her. She sighed, but she didn’t stop, or reply. She just kept walking. It was an argument better had later. A fight that stood a better chance of being resolved when they both had clearer heads. When she could convince Bucky to speak up for himself. It was a fight she just didn’t have the energy to continue, so she kept walking, and prayed to herself that her father wouldn’t make a scene with Bucky before she was able to play mediator between the two. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait for an update. My June ended up being really busy. I started a new job, and well, it took up a lot of time. But, thank you for reading, and I will definitely be updating again, soon! Please leave kudos and comments if you like!


	10. The Great...

“ _Claire Temple_ ,” Namor said to the men who stood across the table from where he’d been seated, handcuffs around his wrists and bolted to the table. These, it seemed, were the real Avengers. Perhaps more so than the young Stark he’d had the misfortune of meeting in the city. The two with darker skin were, he gathered, the Falcon and War Machine. The other, the Asgardian leader and God of Thunder. 

“What?” the one known as War Machine asked, confusion on his face.

“Claire. Temple,” Namor said, again, refusing to answer any of the men’s questions. He wanted to speak with Claire. He was sure he’d found the Avengers, just as she’d suggested, but he hadn’t been told that they’d _arrest_ him. Or that they’d hold him against his will, or treat him as a hostile. So far, he only had one ally on the surface, and that had been Claire. He would talk to her, and maybe she could get them to actually help.

“What is he saying?” the War Machine said to the others.

“He’s saying ‘Claire Temple’,” the God of Thunder replied. 

“What’s a 'Claire Temple'?” the Falcon asked, scoffing a little.

“Are you all daft?” Namor spat, glaring at the trio. “I am asking for Claire Temple.”

“Okay. And who’s that?” the War Machine asked, his arms crossed over his chest defensively. 

“She is a woman. One of your kind,” Namor responded, frustrated no less by the situation than by the Avengers themselves. “If you are going to hold me, I wish to speak to Claire.”

“And if we find this ‘Claire Temple’, you will tell us what it is you seek?” the God of Thunder asked.

“Tell me, Asgardian. Why do you do the bidding of these lesser creatures?” Namor asked the God of Thunder, his shimmery eyes glaring at the large man. “I, like you, am a prince to my people. Do you think it right that I should be in chains?” The Asgardian seemed to consider the situation, his hand stroking at the hair on his chin. Then he gestured to the others.

“Release him,” the God of Thunder replied.

“Thor, are you _crazy_? We don’t know what this guy might do,” the War Machine replied.

“Yeah, but we could be causing some kind of international incident, or something… right?” the Falcon said, though he seemed a little uncertain.

“You heard him. The man is a prince. Let’s at least grant him the dignity of not.. Being chained to a table,” the God of Thunder replied. The War Machine didn’t seem convinced; Namor’s research told him that he was a great warrior; but some combination of numbers was entered into a touch pad on the wall and suddenly Namor’s wrists were free. He rubbed at them cautiously, his eyes studying the trio of Avengers across from him.

“Thank you, God of Thunder,” Namor said, his eyes shifting back to the god. 

“We can be very reasonable, if you’re reasonable with us,” the War Machine replied. Namor _wanted_ to say they’d been nothing but unreasonable up until this point. But he held his tongue and instead spoke to the highest ranked among them. 

“If you would be so kind, Your Majesty, as to have your colleagues contact Ms. Temple,” Namor said to the God of Thunder.

“What is it that you want with this Claire?” the God of Thunder, Thor, said to him, his posture less defensive than the other two.

“She is my friend. She… can help explain to your Avengers why I’ve come. I feel that talking to them myself is futile,” Namor said, his eyes shifting accusingly to the War Machine.

“Is he talking about me? Why’s he mad at me?” the War Machine said.

“He’s not, he just don’t trust us, man,” the Falcon said.

“Then why’s he lookin’ at me? What did I do?” the War Machine grumbled.

“Nothin’”

“You’re the one that _kicked_ his ass,” the War Machine pointed out. The Falcon smiled a little at the memory. Namor, too, found it a little amusing in hind sight. The Falcon had caught him off guard, that’s for sure. 

“I’m sure you’ll find that the Avengers, while petty, are quite reasonable and good,” Thor replied. “If you find me easy to speak with, then I shall be your liaison.”

“That is acceptable. However, I would like for Claire to at least know that … I have found the Avengers, and that I’m… alright.” Namor replied.

“Awww, man. Does the fish man have a _girlfriend_?” the Falcon laughed a little, nudging the War Machine with his elbow. The other man made a face, shaking his head.

“See, that’s just nasty,” 

“We’ll find her, man, don’t worry about it,” the Falcon said with a grin. The War Machine shook his head.

“That’s some ‘Shape of Water’ shit…” 

  
  


“A week,”

“Steve…”

“ _A week_ , Bucky. Are you out of your mind?” Steve had cornered Bucky in the hallway just outside of the strategy room before Bucky could sneak off to the medbay to check on Lena. Bucky knew exactly what Steve would say, and he knew, in his heart of hearts, that Steve was right. It was reckless, what he and Lena had done. Tony would probably never forgive him. Lena was young and infatuated and it wasn’t fair to take advantage of that. He knew that Steve was right, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear it. 

“I know, pal,” Bucky sighed, his eyes avoiding Steve’s face, for fear of seeing the disappointment in his eyes. Steve had a way of being overly paternal, at times. Sometimes, it was a welcome and familiar thing. Other times....

“You know? … I just asked you _one_ thing. I asked you not to go there with Lena, because you and I both knew how Tony would react-”

“And, Steve, I _told you_ how I feel about her,” Bucky replied, his blue eyes shifting up to Steve apologetically. Steve sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

“It’s unrealistic, Bucky,” Steve replied. “And I’m sorry, I know how you feel, but this- isn’t sustainable. The two of you. Honestly, buddy, any other girl, and I’d-”

“I know. I already know what you’re going to say, so let’s just drop it, Steve,” Bucky grumbled.

“Did you think you’d marry her? I mean, what was your end game?” Steve asked, his voice hushed and his blue eyes scolding.

“I dunno. I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Bucky replied.

“You didn’t? You just thought ‘I’ll run off with Tony Stark’s only daughter, and figure out the rest later’?” Steve fussed.

“Oh, give it rest! I don’t see her like that. She’s not _‘Tony Stark’s daughter’_ to me, Steve. She’s so much more than that!” Bucky snapped.

“She’s a kid,” Steve replied.

“No younger than any other girl I could feasibly date on this planet. I’m 102,” Bucky replied, anguished.

“Bucky, you can’t keep using that as an excuse!... And to run out into the field with her, on such a dangerous-”

“I’ve taken down worse guys than that,” Bucky scoffed. 

“Yeah. Yeah, you have,” Steve sighed, shaking his head. “... I can’t protect you from Tony. I won’t.”

“I don’t know if you guys think this is cute, or what, but I don’t think Lena needs or wants anyone to protect her from me. She doesn’t _belong_ to Tony. It’s not up to him what we do,” Bucky replied, his voice low and gruff. 

“Do you remember when I asked you if you love her?” Steve asked, alluding to the fact that Bucky hadn’t given him a straight answer. Bucky nodded.

“And, Steve, I don’t owe you an answer to that.”

“You don’t, Buck, and I actually believe that you do love her. I don’t think you’d go through all of this if you didn’t,” Steve said, his voice and posture suggesting that he was trying, at least a little, to understand. Maybe it was because it felt a little too much like talking to Captain America more than Steve, but it really annoyed Bucky. Steve's moral center had always been dialed towards what was right. Bucky would never deny that. But it did seem that sometimes, he tried hard to be what Captain America was supposed to be. Just, calm, understanding, and firm. Sometimes, Bucky just wanted to talk to his friend, not Cap. “But I also think that… because you love her, you should care about what’s best for her. You shouldn’t want to cause trouble in her life that hadn’t been there, before. Tony is the _only family that she has_ , Buck. Please. _For her sake, let her go_. Don’t do this to them.” 

Bucky considered Steve’s words. He considered them more seriously than he thought even Steve knew. Lena had been a bright spot in a dark few decades. There was nothing he wanted more than her happiness. It’s just, for the first time since meeting her, he considered that maybe _he_ wasn’t the best thing for her happiness. Maybe he actually was more trouble than he was worth. 

“You think I should break up with her…” Bucky inferred, his eyes connecting with Steve’s. His best friend didn’t react, though he could tell that that’s what Steve thought was best. 

“I think… you should at least talk to her about it,” Steve replied apologetically. Bucky nodded a little, his eyes faltering. The thought of breaking up with Lena was tearing him up inside. But he also couldn’t stand the idea of tearing her away from her family. He knew all too well what that was like. “I didn’t tell you that you should,” Steve added, guilt in his blue eyes. Bucky just nodded, in response. He knew that that was what Steve was saying. And that Steve was right; it was the right thing to do.

 

“HE JUST MAKES ME SO ANGRY, SOMETIMES!” Lena yelled at the holoscreen on her kimoyo beads, Shuri’s face wincing at the tone in her friend’s voice. She sat cross-legged on a bed in the medbay, the door to the room she was in closed. She was mostly fine, except for a pair of cracked ribs, courtesy of Namor, and she wasn’t free to go until they could ensure that nothing was bleeding internally. So, she’d called Shuri to pass the time and to yell about how overbearing her father was being. If anyone would understand and also not snitch to her dad like she was some _child who needed tabs kept on her_ , it was Shuri. 

“I’m sure he only means well, Lena,” the princess responded, the hologram on the holoscreen giving Lena a smile. 

“So, I’m wrong for wanting some goddamn privacy sometimes? Bucky is my boyfriend-”

“He’s your _boyfriend_ , now?” Shuri asked, surprised. “That was quick.”

“Well, I mean… we’ve been seeing a lot of each other. And Bucky’s old fashioned, you know? So, I guess it didn’t feel right, to him, without the title,” Lena rambled, waving off the question. 

“I feel like I only just talked to you about him, and you said you weren’t sure if he liked you,” Shuri responded.

“... Shuri, we’ve been seeing each other for… okay, so it _hasn’t been long_ , but it’s been very, very good,” Lena smiled, chuckling a little.

“That sounds like a very interesting story, which you’re dying to tell me, yes?” Shuri grinned on the holoscreen, and Lena giggled a little. “Ah! Did you just _giggle_ , Lena?”

“I knowww. I probably sound like some love-struck teenage girl, but, Shuri, he’s so great. Gorgeous, and funny, and weird… and sexy,” Lena sighed.

“Sergeant Barnes is all of that, I agree,” Shuri chuckled. 

“ _Hey_. Little girl, don’t agree that my man is gorgeous and sexy,” Lena smirked, teasing with Shuri.

“I am only repeating you,” Shuri chuckled. “And you are in love with him?”

“Yeah… I think so,” Lena sighed. “I got it bad. It’s _baaaad_ , Shuri,” she chuckled, smiling a little. “I mean, I… I do sorta wish I didn’t. My dad is… well… I mean, I totally understand why he’s freaking out, but _damn_ , at what point is my life mine? I mean, I’m an adult.”

“Consider yourself lucky that you have a father to be overprotective of you,” Shuri commented, her voice eerily casual considering what happened to her father. Lena frowned a little.

“ _Oh, God_ , I’m sorry, Shuri…”

“No, no. That isn’t what I meant. I just meant… appreciate your father while he’s here,” Shuri replied, smiling sadly. “Baba never let me date, while he was alive. Now, my brother still doesn’t want me to date. Of course, I do it anyway, but it still feels nice that he cares so much to want me safe.”

“Yeah… I get that. And, you know? I know that’s all it is, for my dad. He doesn’t trust Bucky. And who could blame him? But… Bucky’s so gentle with me. He’s not the man my dad thinks he is,” Lena said. “Does that make sense?”

“Of course. I know Sergeant Barnes. He is a good man,” Shuri replied. “Have to tried telling your father that he is not the man he used to be?” Lena nodded.

“He doesn’t trust it,” she replied, taking in a soft breath as she lay back, slowly, against the bed. She winced a little as she did.

“Are you alright?” Shuri asked.

“Yeah… ribs,” Lena replied.

“You should _not_ have gone into battle without a plan, my friend,” Shuri pointed out.

“I wouldn’t be hurt if you’d sent me some _vibranium_ , like I asked,” Lena smirked. Shuri chuckled a little. 

“Somehow, I think T’Challa would not approve of me sending extra vibranium to the Americans,” Shuri teased.

“ _‘The Americans?’_ I thought we were best friends, asshole,” Lena chuckled, holding her ribs just in case it would hurt, even though it didn’t. 

“ _Do I know you?_ ” Shuri teased, and Lena chuckled again.

“Okay, okay, _Princess of Wakanda_. Protect the biggest resource, I get it,” Lena smiled at her friend. 

“I will send a drone to help fix your ribs,” Shuri offered, smiling. “I can’t have that _Stark Tech_ ruining my best friend’s healthcare.”

“Hey. Stark Tech is _state of the art_ , and I resent that,” Lena smirked. “And thank you.”

“If you would just come and stay in Wakanda, you wouldn’t have these problems, Lena,” Shuri offered.

“Yeah, but what would the Avengers do without me?” Lena smiled.

“Probably a lot better. They wouldn’t _destroy a city block_ to arrest a man who was going to come willingly,” Shuri smirked, teasing her friend. Lena scoffed. “Don’t they teach you how to deescalate in Avengers school?”

“We don’t have a school, asshole,” Lena rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. 

“That’s their first mistake. See, in Wakanda, we’d at least train you before you went on a mission,” Shuri continued, smirking at the frustration on Lena’s face.

“I _train_ , I _swear_!” Lena chuckled.

“Are you sure?” Shuri teased.

“Oh, my God, I’m hanging up!” Lena laughed, wincing at the pain in her ribcage. 

“The drone is on it’s way. Just let it in and it will do it’s thing,” Shuri said, nodding a little. 

“Thank you, Princess…”

“Lena, stOP CALLING ME THAT!” Shuri yelled, causing Lena to laugh.

“Gotta go, bye!” she replied, ending the transmission before Shuri could object further. Two seconds later, Shuri sent a photo of herself holding up her middle finger. Lena laughed for a second, then winced, groaning at the pain in her ribs. “Stupid mermaid…”

 

It didn’t take much for Rhodey and Tony to find Claire Temple. They’d located her in Hell’s Kitchen, gotten in contact with her, and were already sending Nat to go and retrieve her so that this Namor guy would feel much more comfortable talking to them. Although, much to Rhodey’s chagrin, he seemed just fine talking to Thor, who he seemed to be inadvertently forming a bond with. Tony suggested that it was an otherworldly royal person thing that they would never understand. They had all but gotten the Namor situation under control. The guy didn’t seem to want to escape, and actually didn’t seem to have destruction in mind for the city of New York, after all. So, it was easy to understand Tony’s frustration with a certain Star Spangled Man, who had all but disappeared after they’d gotten back to the facility with the Sub-Mariner. 

“Still no sign of Rogers?” Tony asked Rhodey indifferently, watching a live feed of Namor in the holding room with Thor.

“I’m pretty sure he’s just babysitting,” Rhodey said, glancing at Sam, who was sitting, abnormally quiet, in the corner of the room. Sam just shrugged, a rather frustrated looking shrug, so Rhodey didn’t push and instead turned his attention back to Tony. “He knows Barnes is the last person you wanna see right now.”

“Yeah, well, if he knows what’s best for him, he’ll keep the Manchurian Candidate away from me,” Tony muttered, prompting a scoff from Sam. “What was that, Wilson?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Sam replied sharply, looking at Tony like he dared him to fuck with him.

“Tony, I _wouldn’t_ ,” Rhodey mentioned to his friend.

“ _The hell is his problem?_ ” Tony asked, studying Sam for a moment.

“I dunno. I’m just saying, the guy’s in a mood, leave him alone,” Rhodey said. Tony just looked at him. “I’m just saying, maybe he’s a little tired of everybody asking him about Steve.”

“Did I _say that_ , James?” Sam asked sharply.

“No, but I’m just telling Tony that you seem a little sensitive, right now, so-”

“I’m _sensitive_ , now?” Sam snapped.

“Yeah, bruh. If you wanna be honest, you’re actin’ real sensitive,” Rhodey nodded, unwavering though the tone in Sam’s voice suggested he didn’t feel like being fucked with.

“Maybe I’m just sick of Tony and Steve acting like a pair of fuckin’ fourteen year olds, and all of us just supposed to pick sides and make sure they don’t kill each other when we got _more pressin’ shit to deal with_ ,” Sam said, harshly, his eyes glaring at Tony.

“Whoa. Sam, chill out,” Rhodey suggested.

“No,” Tony stopped him, gesturing towards Sam. “Speak your mind, _Wilson_. Tell me more about how I’m acting like a fourteen year old.”

“I’m not going to play this game with you, Stark,” Sam scoffed. “All I’m sayin’ is, if you and Steve had your shit together, maybe we would’ve been more prepared for the big purple guy. Or this ocean clown. But, nah, one thing not to your liking and you both fall apart. And we’re all worse off for it.”

“Is that how you really feel, Sam?” Tony asked, pissed off by the notion that Thanos was his fault. Sam just scoffed.

“I don’t know how I feel, man. Why don’t you go back to concentrating on how you can kill Bucky Barnes for runnin’ off with your daughter,” Sam replied coldly. Tony’s blood boiled at Sam’s harsh words, and he took a step towards Sam, but Rhodey grabbed his arms and shook his head.

“Leave him alone, Tony,” Rhodey said, his voice low. “It’s not you.”

“I’m just supposed to let him-” Tony started, but then the door the the strategy room opened, and in walked Steve Rogers. With a dark-eyed, sheepish-looking Bucky Barnes trailing behind him. The nerve of the man even _daring to enter the same space as Tony_ had Tony seeing red.

“Did you guys find out-” Steve started, but before he could get the sentence out, Tony was lunging for Bucky. Rhodey tried to stop him, but Tony pulled himself from Rhodey’s grasp, and soon he was swinging his fist towards the Winter Soldier’s mouth. Tony didn’t see anything when he hit the man, nor did he realize he was still swinging when Steve and Rhodey were pulling him off of Barnes, but when he came to, he was yelling a stream of obscenities and there was a small stream of red blood dripping from Barnes’ nose. 

“You slept with my daughter, you piece of shit!” Tony yelled, struggling against Steve’s _stupid_ super strength. _Fuck him for being so impossibly strong_. “Let me FUCKING GO!”

“Tony, you know that man could kill you easily, right?” Rhodey rationalized.

“Not if I _kill him first_ ,” Tony growled, trashing in Steve’s arms as he glared at Bucky. Bucky, who just stood there staring at him and wiping blood from his nose like it _didn’t even fucking faze him._

“Stark, you’re being irrational,” Steve said calmly, his large arm wrapped so tightly around Tony’s chest that he felt like a toddler in a car seat. All it did was infuriate him further. “You punched him. He’s bleeding. You got him back. Okay?”

“Steve, if you don’t let me go, I’m _gonna blow your dick off_ ,” Tony stated darkly, a large blaster swiftly materializing around his hand. Steve sighed.

“No you won’t. Put that away,” Steve rationalized.

“Damn it, Tony, _are you crazy?_ You already hit the guy,” Rhodey said, attempting to calm his friend.

“Why won’t he fucking _say anything_?” Tony yelled, glaring at Bucky, his blaster-covered arm pointing at the bewildered-looking man.

“What do you want him to say? You want him to apologize?” Steve asked, still refusing to let Tony go. Steve nodded at Bucky, urging him to apologize to Tony. Bucky’s eyes narrowed at Steve, reluctance on his face.

“He’s not _sorry_. He has no _remorse_ ,” Tony said angrily.

“You’re right, I’m not sorry. I _love_ her,” Bucky replied gruffly, glaring at Tony.

“Buck,” Steve groaned, and Tony lunged towards him again, prompting Steve to hold him tighter. 

“I’ll fucKING KILL YOU!” Tony yelled. “Rogers, I SWEAR TO GOD.”

“No, both of you are being irrational. I-” Steve started, just as Tony fired a blast towards Bucky’s head. Which Bucky dodged, but put a sizable hole in the door to the strategy room. “ _JESUS_ , TONY!”

“Alright, that’s it, Tony. I hate to say this, and you’re my best friend, but you’re being sexist as fuck. Lena is not your _property_. She’s your daughter, your _adult_ daughter, and at the end of the day, it’s her decision who she dates,” Rhodey yelled at Tony, gesturing towards the door he just damaged. “Look what you fucking did! All because your _adult_ daughter made a decision you disagree with?”

“But why did it have to be _HIM_?” Tony asked gruffly, his eyes shifting to Rhodey. 

“Only they know. We can’t feel what they’re feeling for them, Tony,” Rhodey said sternly. “Now put the goddamn blaster away before you hurt someone.” Tony glanced, angrily, at Bucky, who was staring wildly at him, chest heaving as if he’d just had some sort of war flashback or something. Strangely, Tony felt a little remorse for the guy, and he let the nanoparticles in his blaster return to his arc reactor.

“Sorry. Barnes,” Tony muttered. “Will you let go, Steve?”

“Okay… I’m gonna let go. You have to promise not to attack anyone,” Steve offered. Tony rolled his eyes, nodding a little.

“Jesus. I’m not gonna _hurt anyone_ ,” he grumbled. Then Steve carefully and cautiously let him go before rushing over to check on Bucky. Who, it seemed, didn’t want Steve’s help and shrugged him off. 

“I’m fine,” he muttered, though his eyes were wild and distant; Tony wasn’t sure he didn’t _still have the Winter Soldier in him after all_. 

“I don’t want you to see her, anymore. I know it’s not really up to me, but it’s a principle thing.” Tony said quickly, his eyes avoiding Bucky; he still couldn’t stand to _look_ at the guy. “You killed my parents. You fucking my-...” Tony winced, shaking his head. “ _I can’t live with it._ ”

“I’ll stop seeing her,” Bucky agreed gruffly, angry blue eyes glaring at Tony as if he’d just agreed to another 70 years as a mindless Hydra assassin. Tony almost didn’t believe he’d heard correctly, his eyes shifting to Bucky in disbelief. 

“You will?” Tony asked. Bucky nodded, looking away, his jaw clenched tight.

“Buck, thank you,” Steve said apologetically. “I know it’s a lot to ask-”

“I just want what’s best for her,” he replied gruffly, anguish in his voice. He wiped at his bloodied nose, his eyes glancing at Tony. He gave Tony a small nod, and with that, he left the room, swiftly as if he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Steve called after him, at first, but he just stood there, as if he wasn’t sure if he should follow. Then, he looked at Tony, concern in his eyes. 

“Will you _leave him alone_ , now? You got what you wanted,” Steve asked harshly. Tony nodded a little, his eyes falling a bit.

“Friday, let’s fix that door,” Tony muttered.

“You okay, now, Tony?” Rhodey asked, placing a supportive hand on Tony’s shoulder. 

“ _She’s gonna be crushed_ ,” Tony replied, remorse in his voice. Rhodey exchanged looks with Steve, unsure of how to respond. “... It’s for the best, though. Right?”

“It’s definitely for the best, Tony,” Steve replied. 

“Hey, where’d Sam go?” Rhodey mentioned, noticing that Sam was not seated at his usual perch in the corner of the room. That, somewhere during all the commotion, he’d left.

“Sam was here?” Steve asked sheepishly, feeling like a real asshole for not noticing.

“Yeah, he was definitely here when you and Barnes walked in. He’d just had an argument with Tony,” Rhodey mentioned. 

“Damn it,” Steve muttered, quickly exiting the room to go find Sam. He knew what Sam’s problem was. He knew better than anyone.

 

He found Sam just where he assumed he’d be; perched on the rooftop of the facility, pretending he was there to be some sort of lookout. Sam didn’t turn around when he heard the door to the roof close, but Steve knew that he’d heard him. He could see it in Sam’s body language as he approached. He could see, from the way his shoulders tensed, and his breathing slowed, that Sam was trying his fucking hardest to pretend not to notice that someone was on the roof with him, and that he probably knew exactly who it was.

“Sam…” Steve started, standing just behind the younger man, eyes fixated on his broad shoulders; Falcon pack draped over them as if he’d just thrown it on to look busy. 

“Finished with your two buddies?” Sam asked dryly, his eyes still looking over the land behind the facility, and decidedly not back at Steve. 

“It… got a little out of hand, and I’m sorry,” Steve replied sincerely. Sam sighed.

“It’s always outta hand. It’s always something you gotta deal with,” he replied indifferently. 

“Wait, are you _angry_?” Steve asked, a little unsure of how to take this. Sam just scoffed, chuckling a little to himself. “Sam, just _talk to me_. Tell me what I did.”

“Why do y’all always bend to Tony’s will? You wanna see that girl hurt?” Sam asked, his voice indifferent, his eyes still surveying the land. 

“It’s not just bending to Tony’s will. It’s better for both of them, in the long run. This thing between them… it’s not going to work, Sam. It’s better they just end it now, when both of them still have a chance to recover,” Steve replied rationally. 

“How are they any different from us, Steve?” Sam asked, finally glancing back at Steve, some mix of anger and confusion in his brown eyes.

“Well… for one, Tony Stark isn’t your dad,” Steve said, smiling a little to try to break the tension.

“So… if he was, this would’ve never happened?” Sam asked Steve honestly. And Steve’s smile dropped a little. Sam sighed, shaking his head. “Nah, I’m not even mad about that. I mean, I do honestly think it’s _a little fucked up_ that so many of y’all think you get a say in what those two people feel, but maybe that’s also why you think it’s so important for us to keep what _we_ feel a secret. And, I guess I get that. But sometimes, Steve, I feel like your attention is so divided that it’s… it’s mostly just what _I_ feel.”

“Sam, what are you talking about?” Steve scoffed, but Sam held up a hand to stop him.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Sam said matter-of-factly.

“That isn’t why nobody knows about us,” Steve started. Sam turned, fully, to face him, as if he were dying to know Steve’s excuse of the week. “Sam… you know this is complicated.”

“I don’t think it is,” Sam replied sternly. 

“ _It is_. Whether you think so or not,” Steve replied.

“It’s not, Steve. Your attentions are divided, Bucky and Tony are both _more important to you than I am_ , and I feel like we’re only together these days when you get a _Star Spangled Boner_. And maybe that’s blunt, but you can’t stand there and tell me that it’s not true,” Sam rationalized, watching the exasperated look on Steve’s face as he tried his best to find a response. “You think I don’t realize that I’m second, or third to you on any given day.”

“You’re _first_ to me, Sam. Always,” Steve insisted.

“Do you love me, Steve?” Sam asked; he’d asked it as if he knew what the answer was. As if he knew that the truth was that Steve did not actually love him. It broke Steve’s heart to hear, but he wasn’t even really sure of how to respond. “You _don’t_ , do you?”

“Sam,”

“That’s okay, Steve. It really is. I mean, _fuck_ , I’m not going anywhere. I just think I deserve to know the truth about what this is. About what _we_ are,” Sam said, desperation in his voice, on his face that was usually covered in joy.

“I love you. I do, Sam… I don’t understand where this is coming from,” Steve responded, exasperated. 

“I’m just sick of _lying_ to everyone. Sick of feeling like I have to put my needs to the side because Bucky needs you. Sick of pretending I’m okay all the time so you don’t feel guilty for giving all of your energy to everything going on with him, keeping Tony at bay, all of that. Then, at the end of the day, I have to pretend I can just… support you, and I don’t need support. Steve, _I feel like I’m in hell_. There’s no one I can talk to. Nobody even knows about you and me, and you’re always, _always_ busy trying to save someone else,” Sam let it all come flooding out, his voice breaking a little as if he were fighting the urge to cry. “And I’m not pressuring you. I know that being out to everyone is a _big step._ It’s a step I’m not even sure I’m ready for, myself. But… Steve, the least you could do is be in this with me, a little more. I feel like I’m in hell, and I don’t even have _you_ to lean on. I need you, too. I know it’s different with Bucky, but-”

“Sam, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were feeling this way,” he said, his eyes fixated on Sam’s. “... I can do better.”

“I’m just asking for you to be there for me, too,” Sam said, his voice soft.

“Whatever you need. I’m here,” Steve agreed, nodding. “And… and we should tell the team. You’re right. I just need a little more time,”

“I understand how much Buck means to you. I do, Steve. More than _I_ ever will. And I’m not upset about that-”

“He doesn’t mean _more_. It’s a different… type of meaning, entirely.”

“No, _really_ , I get that. And I am not, by any means, asking you to stop caring for Bucky. _God knows_ he needs you, right now. It just feels like every goddamn day… _Every day_ , I’m taking a back seat to Bucky. And I know we didn’t know each other in the 40s, when you were young, and that’s a bond you and Bucky have that I will never have with you. But, I need you, too. I’m your man, right? _I need you too, Steve!_ Even when he and Lena were MIA, I felt like he was most of what you wanted to talk about.”

“Now, that’s not true. I thought Bucky was feeling … restricted and ran off, so I was going to let him have some space, and spend that time focused on you,” Steve rationalized.

“Do you even hear the way you framed that statement? You thought Bucky was gone, so because he was gone and _only_ because he was gone, you decided to focus on me,” Sam pointed out. It was true, Steve recognized, that he did seem to focus every statement on Bucky, first. That he was, in turn, putting Sam second.

“You’re right. I have… been a little preoccupied, lately. I’m really sorry about that, Sam,” Steve said softly. “What can I do to help make it up to you? How can I make it better?”

“... I don’t want to be appeased. I just want to be with you. For real, Steve. And not just sometimes,” Sam said apologetically, as if he thought he was being unreasonable. 

“So… let’s be together, right now,” Steve relented. “No Buck, no Tony, no Avengers. Let’s just be Steve and Sam. Honestly, I’m just as tired of it all as you are, baby.”

“C’mon, don’t call me ‘baby’ right now…” Sam muttered bashfully, fighting a smile as his eyes dropped away from Steve. Steve smiled a little; Sam was really cute, when he tried not to be sentimental. 

“I’m gonna call you ‘baby’, because you’re my baby, Sam,” Steve flirted a little, casually settling a hand at the other man’s hip and easing him closer. Sam fought against his smile, his eyes downcast, and his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest, and Steve placed another hand on Sam’s other hip, gazing at the beautiful brown man in front of him.

“Just… let me be mad at you for a little bit longer,” Sam muttered, his breath catching in his throat as Steve’s lips moved closer to his.

“ _Uh uh_ ,” Steve objected, smirking a little as his warm breath tickled Sam’s lips, asking for permission to close the deal on a kiss. A kiss that Sam feared was just to end the conversation, but that promised to be so good that he couldn’t let himself pass it up. So, he kissed Steve’s waiting, pinkish lips softly, a gesture that he meant to say “I’ll let it go, for now.” But Steve seemed to have another idea, his pinkish lip kissing at Sam’s brown ones repeatedly until Sam fell stupidly and haphazardly into a deep, sensual kiss that sent jolts of pleasure through his body like lightning. Sam’s arms slowly unfolded from his chest, and he cupped Steve’s face, cursing himself for falling so easily for this man’s charms every time. 

“ _Do you wanna go away for a while?_ ” Sam whispered into Steve’s kisses, imagining having this man all to himself for a few days. All he wanted was a few days.

“Sam, you know I can’t,” he replied apologetically, his hands shifting to Sam’s waist as he tried to pull away. “It’s just with this Namor situation going on, and everything…”

“And the fallout from Bucky and Lena. I get it,” 

“When we signed up to become Avengers, we signed up to put the world before ourselves,” Steve rationalized. Sam just nodded, brown eyes downcast and uncertain, fingers stroking absently at Steve’s beard. “I love you. And every free moment I have is yours. I promise, Sam.”

“Can I at least have you right now?” Sam asked, cursing himself for sounding so pathetic. Steve was right; _they were Avengers_. The team needed them. The world needed them. Avengers were meant to be strong. 

“Yeah,” Steve relented, smiling softly as Sam’s eyes met his. “Let’s just stay up here for the rest of the night. How’s that sound?” Sam smiled a little, and he let out a soft chuckle, looking at Steve slyly. “What?”

“I think you just wanna fuck me on the roof,” Sam accused him, catching Steve off guard. Steve laughed at the audacity of the statement, and Sam laughed with him, the stress of the situation just below them melting away with their laughter. Steve had almost let himself forget how good it could be when it was just them. They’d spent so much time on the run together, just the two of them. Those days had been filled with much more laughter and joy than they had anything else. Action, when on the run, didn’t actually occur much at all. On occasion, they’d help someone take down some major criminal or rescue some innocents from a bad situation. Most of the time, they were on the road, or in some hotel room under assumed names, or finding some secluded spot somewhere where they could just stare at the stars and talk. Steve figured Sam missed those times, more than anything. Now that they were back with the Avengers, back with Bucky... Steve did have less time for Sam. An almost neglectful amount less. He missed his man. He hadn’t even really realized how much. 

“That’s… actually not a bad idea,” Steve flirted, perking a brow to see if Sam was actually into it or if he was just kidding. Sam’s smirk suggested he was curious, too, but he let out a hesitant scoff, his head shaking a little.

“What if someone comes to the roof?” he asked.

“I guess we’ll… have some explaining to do,” Steve replied playfully. Sam laughed a little, but he bit his bottom lip, and he gazed lustfully at Steve. “Are we doing this?” Steve asked, trying to mask the lust in his own voice with playfulness.

“ _We’re doing this_ ,” Sam replied, certainty in his voice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for staying with me. 
> 
> Little update: I got in a car accident mid-July... which became a whole ordeal, and, needless to say, threw me off of my game. I'm doing a lot better, now, mentally and physically. Anyway, I wrote this in August and hated it... (I know writers aren't supposed to say when they don't like something they wrote.) But also, I... wanted to give you all a chapter, and this chapter is the bridge... the... calm? before the storm, I suppose. 
> 
> Expect this to be about the mid-point of the story! And maybe a mini-chapter with Peter going back to school, because it's fun. Would you guys like that? 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments, as usual! You guys are great!


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